Oak  Street 
UNCLASSIFIED 


Vfniv.of  Ill.  Library 

54 

\JJtl 


■^nov4 


Education  AND  Industry. 


JF'v 


A  REPORT 


EDUCATION  ADAPTED  TO  THE  WANTS  OF  COMMON 
MADE  BY  THE  EDUCATIONAL  COMMITTEE 


-OF  THE- 


4^,  iMkd&p 


AND  READ  BY  F.  G.  ADAMS,  OF  TOPEKA,  AT  THE 


A  N  NUAL  M  EETING, 


AT  MANHATTAN, 


December  13tli,  1S7’6. 


TOPEKA : 

KANSAS  FARMER  PRINTING  HOUSE 
1877. 


-'Vv 


A  Report  made  by  the  Educational  Committee  of  the  Kansas  State 
Grange,  and  read  by  F.  G.  Adams  at  the  Annual  Meeting  at  Manhattan 
December  13th,  1876. 


The  Declaration  of  Principles  of  the  National 
Grange  contains  the  following  among  the  specifica¬ 
tions  of  the  objects  of  the  order  of  Patrons  of  Hus¬ 
bandry: 

•“We  shall  advance  the  cause  of  education  among 
ourselves,  and  for  our  children,  by  all  just  means 
within  our  power.  We  especially  advocate  for  our 
agricultural  and  industrial  colleges,  that  practical 
agriculture,  domestic  science,  and  all  the  arts  which 
adorn  the  home,  be  taught  in  the  course  of  study.” 

The  Preamble  to  the  Constitution  of  the  National 
Grange  declares,  that  “the  ultimate  object  of  this  or¬ 
ganization,  is,  for  mutual  instruction  and  protection; 
to  lighten  labor  by  diffusing  a  knowledge  of  its  aims 
and  purposes:  to  expand  the  mind,  by  tracing  the 
beautiful  laws  the  Great  Creator  has  established  in 
the  universe,  and  to  enlarge  our  views  of  creative 
wisdom  and  power.” 

Thus  it  is  seen  that  the  founders  of  the  organiza¬ 
tion  of  Patrons  of  Husbandry  included  in  its  objects 
a  wide  scope  of  educational  work. 

The  emphatic  statement  of  this  as  one  of  the  ob¬ 
jects  of  the  organization,  was,  in  part  at  least,  an  ad¬ 
mission  of  special  educational  needs.  It  was  an  ad¬ 
mission  that  farmers,  as  a  class,  are  peculiarly  lack¬ 
ing  in  educational  privileges,  and  that  as  a  conse 
quence,  they  are  lacking  in  intelligence,  in  a  greater 
degree  than  other  classes :  at  least  in  some  of  the 
elements  of  intelligence  which  go  to  qualify  men  to 
discharge  well  their  part  in  the  world's  broad  field  of 
battle. 

This  inferiority  of  intelligence  among  farmers  as  a 
class,  does  not  come  from  any  degradation  in  the 
farmers’  occupation;  it  does  not  come  from  the  fact 
that,  instead  of  being  environed  by  brick  walls,  and 
of  having  the  privilege  by  night  and  by  day  of  snif> 
fing  the  oders  of  the  sewer  and  the  sink,  he  has  but 
the  surroundings  of  nature  for  his  hamperings,  and 
the  uncontaminated  air  of  heaven  for  his  respira- 
tion.  Not  from  such  circumstances,  come  vacancy 
of  thought,  absence  of  information,  and  incapacity 
in  action. 

This  admitted  inferiority  of  intelligence  comes 
largely  from  the  isolation  of  members  of  farming 
communities  ;  compared  with  the  more  closely  knit 
neighborhood  relations  of  the  denizens  of  the  town. 
The  farmer’s  social  privileges  are  scanty.  Widely 
separated  as  he  is  from  his  neighbors,  there  scarcely 
comes  more  than  a  weekly  or  even  a  monthly  con- 
tact — mind  with  mind — in  the  interchange  of  infor¬ 


mation,  and  the  discussion  of  views  in  respect  to  the 
affairs  of  life,  of  society,  of  politics,  of  trade  and  of 
the  world's  progress. 

In  town,  he  who  will,  may  have  almost  daily  in¬ 
tercourse  with  the  more  intelligent  of  the  communi¬ 
ty,  and,  by  conversation,  have  his  information  ens 
larged,  his  ambition  stimulated,  his  wits  sharpened, 
and  his  narrowness  of  soul  broadened  into  a  just  ex¬ 
pansion.  Of  this  sort  of  stimulating,  encouraging, 
and  energizing  influence  the  farmer  is  in  a  great 
measure  deprived. 

In  his  isolation  the  farmer  is  deprived  of  the  ad¬ 
vantage  of  the  daily  newspaper,  which  brings  to  all 
in  the  town,  every  day,  fresh  subjects  of  discourse, 
relating  to  the  progress  of  the  events  of  the  world, 
and  even  of  the  changes,  which  effect  the  various  in- 
dustries,  the  prices  of  products  and  the  mutations  of 
trade. 

The  farmer  is  deprived  of  the  advantages  of  public 
libraries  and  reading  rooms  ;  where  books  of  litera- 
ture,  of  history,  of  science  and  of  political  economy 
are  always  put  within  the  reach  of  the  merchant 
and  mechanic  resident  in  all  our  considerable  towns. 
He  is  deprived  of  public  lectures,  which  otten  come 
in  as  a  valuable  means  of  education. 

But,  chiefly,  the  educational  deficiencies  of  the 
farmer  come  from  his  lack  of  that  ground  work  of  a 
good  education  which,  in  the  common  school, should 
be  made  accessible,  in  youth,  to  all,  of  every  class; 
the  sehool,  which  should  qualify  the  farmer’s  boy  to 
become,  in  manhood,  a  careful  and  accurate  keeper 
of  his  own  accounts  ;  to  be  prudent  and  correct  in 
estimates  of  expenses  and  profits  ;  as,  from  year  to 
year,  and  from  season  to  season  he  makes  up  his 
judgment  as  to  what  branch  of  husbandry,  what  se¬ 
ries  of  crops,  or  what  line  of  stock  should  engage 
his  attention  and  employ  his  labor ;  a  ground  work 
of  education  which  should  make  him  an  intelligent 
observer  of  _the  facts  in  nature-  which  his  occupation 
gives  him  superior  advantages  for  observing  ;  which 
should  give  him  some  knowledge  of  political  insti- 
tutions  and  civil  government,  enabling  him  to  be¬ 
come  an  intelligent  citizen,  capable  of  understand'- 
ing  the  bearing  of,  and  of  expressing  his  views  con¬ 
cerning  this  measure  or  that  effecting  taxation  and 
the  principles  of  human  rights : — 

The  school  which  should  qualify  the  farmer’s  girt 
to  have  some  sense  of  what  food  and  raiment  cost, 
and  to  have  the  practical  ability  to  set  down  in  writ- 
ting,  in  plain  words  and  figures,  items  of  such  cost, 


0 


and  to  throw  such  items  into  orderly  and  appropri¬ 
ate  forms  of  account ;  the  school  which  should  store 
her  mind  with  such  facts  concerning  social  life,  do- 
mestic  science,  household  economy,  and  general 
womanly  duty,  as  will  lead  on  to  such  future  self- 
culture,  after  school  days,  as  shall  prove  the  common 
school  course  to  have  opened  up  a  life  of  study  and 
thoughtfulness,  leading  on  to  that  development  of 
true  womanhood,  which,  in  all  ages,  has  been  the 
brightest  adornment  of  civilization. 

It  is  chiefly ,as  I  have  said, because  of  the  inferiority 
of  the  farmer’s  common  schools,  compared  with  the 
common  schools  of  the  city,  that  city  children  have 
the  advantage  over  country  children  in  matters  of 
education.  The  city  school  is  kept  nine  months  in 
the  year, — the  country  school  six  months ;  skilled 
teachers  are  employed  in  the  city,  instead  of  novi¬ 
ces.  Intelligent  and  watchful  supervision  is  had 
over  the  ri^y  schools.  The  aggregation  of  numbers 
in  the  city,  admits  of  a  grading  into  classes  for  in¬ 
struction,  giving  the  teacher  personal  power  over  the 
pupil  two-fold  greater  than  can  be  exerted  by  the 
country  teacher.  The  city  school  is  supplied  with 
libraries,  cabinets  of  specimens,  and  apparatus,  of 
which  the  country  school  is  deficient. 

It  is  but  a  ground  work  of  education,  which  can 
be  laid  in  any  school.  The  ground  work  of  the  farin'- 
er’s  school  education,  should  be  such  as  to  lead  him 
to  become,  throughout  his  whole  life,  after  leaving 
school,  a  thoughtful  student  of  books,  and  of  pass¬ 
ing  events  ;  and  an  intelligent  observer  of  nature’s 
teachings.  With  such  an  educational  outstart,  he 
has,  in  important  respects,  vastly  the  advantage  of 
his  brother  whose  residence  is  in  the  town  ;  for, 
coupled  with  the  educational  privileges  I  have  men¬ 
tioned  as  belonging  to  the  town,  are  disturbing  and 
demoralizing  elements;  frivolities,  temptations  and 
allurements  to  dissipation  and  vice,  not  in  the  farm¬ 
er’s  way  ;  and  which  in  far  too  many  instances  make 
shipwreck,  not  only  of  all  educational  acquire¬ 
ments,  but  of  moral  character  and  of  life  itself 

The  placid  life  of  the  farmer  whose  early  educa¬ 
tional  privileges  have  opened  wide  before  him  the 
book  of  nature,  through  the  eyes  of  elementary 
science,  is  one  of  thought  and  observation,  of  study 
and  contemplation  which  fall  to  no  other  employ¬ 
ment,  and  which  should,  and  I  am  proud  to  be  able 
to  say,  often  does,  under  all  disadvantages  lead  to 
such  development  of  mind  as  to  bring  to  its  possess¬ 
or  the  highest  attributes  of  wisdom  ;  and,  to  add  to 
character  the  best  and  noblest  traits  allotted  to  man. 

It  was  that  the  farming  class  might  meet  the  edu¬ 
cational  disadvantages,  to  which  I  have  referred, and 
by  co  operative  effort  overcome  them,  that  the 
founders  of  the  order  of  Patrons  of  Husbandry  so 
emphatically  put  in  contemplation  systematic  ed¬ 
ucational  work ;  educational  work  to  be  organized 
and  carried  forward,  by  all  just  means  within  the 
powe.s  of  the  members  of  the  order. 

The  carrying  out  of  this  part  of  our  declaration 
has  hitherto  remained  in  abeyance  ;  it  stands  too 
much  as  a  dead  letter  upon  our  ritual. 

I  do  not  say  that  the  order  of  Patrons  has  done 
nothing  educational.  Far  from  it.  Incidentally,  ed¬ 
ucational  results  have  come  from  the  organization, 
valuable  beyond  estimation.  The  ordinary  worKof 


the  order,  the  formal  work,  the  business  routine. and 
incidental  discussions,  all  tend  to  educate  ;  while  in 
some  granges,  libraries  are  established,  instructive 
essays  are  read  at  meetings,  and  discussions  are  held 
upon  practical  topics  relating  to  the  farmer’s  work 
and  that  of  his  household.  The  admission  of  women 
to  membership  in  this  order,  has  lead  to  social  re¬ 
sults  of  an  educational  character,  which  all  recognize 
as  having  well  compensated  for  all  the  organization 
has  cost  its  membership. 

But, so  far  as  relates  to  systematic  and  well  organ¬ 
ized  work  for  the  advancement  of  education  among 
ourselves  and  for  our  children  but  little  has  been 
done.  The  grange  in  Kansas  has  done  as  much  of 
such  work  as  that  of  any  other  State ;  possibly  more. 
As  a  step  towards  such  organized  work,  and  for  the 
object  of  obtaining  information  which  should  lead  to 
well  directed  effort,  especially  as  regards  the  educa¬ 
tion  of  our  children,  the  Kansas  State  Grange,  at 
its  last  annual  meeting  appointed  an  educational 
committee,  under  the  following  proceedings : 

“We  your  Committee,  on  Good  of  the  Order, 
would  recommend : 

“That  a  Committee  of  three  on  Education  be  ap¬ 
pointed  by  this  Grange,  to  investigate  the  Common 
School  System,  and  course  of  instruction  pursued 
in  our  High  Schools  and  Colleges,  with  a  view  to 
recommending  any  changes  that  in  their  judgment 
may  be  needed,  and  devising  a  course  of  instruction 
and  course  of  study  best  suited  to  bring  practical 
knowledge  and  useful  information  within  reach  of 
the  children  of  the  agricultural  classes,  and  to  report 
at  the  next  annual  meeting  of  the  State  Grange.’’ 

The  members  of  the  committee  appointed  under 
the  above  proceedings  are  F.  G.  Adams,  of  Shaw¬ 
nee  county  ;  S.  M.  Wood,  of  Chase  county ,  and  H. 
G.  Reynolds,  of  Marshall  county. 

I  am  before  you  now  to  give  an  account  of  the 
work  of  the  committee.  We  have  pursued  our  in¬ 
quiries  in  such  manner  as  we  could  :  not  being  en¬ 
gaged  in  educational  occupations,  but  following  pur¬ 
suits  of  industry.  We  have  had  access  to  the  infor¬ 
mation  contained  in  national,  state,  and  local  edu¬ 
cational  reports.  We  have  observed  in  some  meas¬ 
ure  the  inside  work  of  schools,  as  they  are  now  con¬ 
ducted  in  the  State.  We  have  consulted,  in  a  direct 
manner,  the  views  of  many  leading  educators  in  the 
country,  as  we  have  also  the  views  of  leading  mem¬ 
bers  of  our  order  throughout  the  country.  We 
have  endeavored  to  bring  into  our  report  the  best 
views  of  the  foremost  educators  and  educational 
thinkers  in  the  land. 

It  is  due  to  the  other  members  of  the  committee, 
and  proper  that  I  should  say,  that  circumstances 
have  prevented  much  co-operation  on  the  part  of 
the  members  in  gathering  the  materials  and  in  the 
preparation  of  the  report.  While,  through  corres¬ 
pondence  the  other  brothers  appointed  on  the  com¬ 
mittee  have  given  full  expression  in  support  of  the 
general  views  embraced  in  the  report,  they  cannot 
be  properly  charged  with  any  responsibility  for  its 
details. 

I  shall  now  present  to  you  the  practical  points 
which  the  investigation  has  brought  under  observa¬ 
tion,  and  shall  largely  illustrate  them  by  a  presentas 

tion  of  the  testimony  and  the  views  of  others. 


3 


EDUCATIONAL  INQUIRIES. 

The  testimony  presented  comes  in  considerable 
part  in  the  form  of  answers  to  inquiries  presented 
by  us,  based  upon  the  following  explanatory  state¬ 
ment,  contained  in  a  circular  employed  by  us  : 

“  In  making  up  the  required  recommendations 
the  Kansas  Grange  Educational  Committee  have  cho 
sen  to  invite  the  opinions  of  others,  upon  some  prac¬ 
tical  points  involved  in  the  subject  of  inquiry.  Add¬ 
ed  to  the  views  of  persons  eminent  in  educational 
experience,  we  seek  to  obtain  the  opinions  of  others 
outside  of  educational  employments,  who,  from  their 
occupations  and  business  intercourse  have  so  come 
in  communication  with  agricultural  people  as  to 
have  obtained  a  knowledge  of  the  results  of,  and  the 
defects  in  the  education  imparted  in  our  common 
schools. 

‘‘We  find  that,  of  the  children  attending  the  com¬ 
mon  schools  in  Kansas, — and  the  same  must  be 
measurably  true  in  respect  to  other  states, — fifty- 
nine  per  cent,  are  of  the  agricultural  class.  Taking 
the  children  of  all  industrial  classes  together,  agri¬ 
cultural,  mechanical,  manufacturing  and  laboring, 
these  children  constitute  eighty-eight  per  cent,  of  all 
the  children  of  the  state.  Common  School  educa¬ 
tion  should  therefore  be  adjusted  to  the  needs  of 
these  classes  ;  making  up  as  they  do  so  great  a  pro¬ 
portion  of  the  people.  Under  existing  conditions 
the  basis  of  Common  School  education  must  be  es¬ 
sentially  the  same  for  all  classes. 

Children  do  not  attend  the  Common  Schools  for 
an  average  period  of  more  than  five  and  one-half 
years,  of  six  months  each  year.  In  other  words  the 
children  of  the  industrial  classes  do  not  receive  more, 
than  an  average  of  thirty-three  months  of  school  ed¬ 
ucation  altogether.  The  maximum  period  is  but  lit¬ 
tle  more  than  twice  that  length  of  time  The  course 
of  study  is  confined  almost  wholly  to  reading,  wri¬ 
ting,  spelling,  arithmetic,  geography  and  English 
grammar.  + 

The  inquiries  which  we  present  for  your  considers 
ation,  bear  upon  the  following  suggestions: 

That  the  educational  work  now  done  in  these 
schools,  is, 

ist,  Superficial  in  its  character. 

2d,  Defective  in  method,  and 

3d,  Narrow  in  its  scope. 

That,  in  respect  to  arithmetic  and  geography,  the 
range  of  particulars  is  too  broad ;  taking  in,  in  de¬ 
tail,  unimportant  subjects  and  necessitating  a  super¬ 
ficial  study  of  important  ones. 

That  penmanship,  and  study  calculated  to  impart 
an  ability  to  speak  and  write  the  English  language 
correctly,  are  sadly  neglected. 

That  the  study  of  English  grammar,  so-called,  is 
carried  to  great  lengths,  in  a  manner  but  little  ealeu 
lated  to  induce  correct  expression  in  speaking  and 
writing  the  English  language. 

That  the  whole  time  occupied  with  the  branches 
taught,  is  much  greater  than  should  be;  and  that  if 
such  studies  were  brought  within  proper  limits,  time 
would  be  afforded  for  the  study  of  the  elements  of 
such  useful  branches  as  book-keeping,  drawing,  and 
some  of  the  branches  of  natural  science,  some 
knowledge  of  whieh  i§  essential  to  an  intelligent  pur¬ 


suit  of  agricultural  and  mechanical  employments,” 

This  circular  was  addressed  to  the  officers  of  the 
National  Grange,  to  the  Masters  and  most  of  the 
Secretaries  of  the  State  granges,  to  quite  a  number 
of  St^te  and  other  Superintendents  of  Public  In¬ 
struction,  and  to  editors  of  Agricultural  and  Educa¬ 
tional  publications. 

The  responses  to  our  inquiries  surprised  us  by  evi-  . 
dence  of  a  very  general  educational  awakening 
throughout  the  country  in  support  of  the  views  indi¬ 
cated  by  us, — evidence  that  a  very  lively  shaking  up 
oi  effete  educational  dry  bones  has,  in  many  quar¬ 
ters,  for  quite  a  period  been  going  on  in  the  interest 
of  a  useful  and  practical  education,  in  place  of  the 
dull  memorizing,  disciplinary,  routine  methods  in¬ 
vented  and  fossilized  in  a  former  educational  age. 

The  responses  come  more  from  educators  than  from 
agriculturists.  The  agriculturists  forcibly  state  their 
dissatisfaction  with  existing  systems.  Educators  ac¬ 
knowledge  the  impeachment,  and  exhibit  too,  a 
most  earnest  thoughtfulness  and  study  in  respect  to  v 
the  remedy. 

GENERALLY  DEFECTIVE. 

As  to  the  fact  that  education,  in  our  common 
schools,  is  generally  defective,  the  testimony  from  all 
quarters  affirms  the  charge  :  the  testimony  is  over¬ 
whelming  and  conclusive.  And  I  quote  first  from 
the  highest  authorities  found  in  educational  reports. 

Says  the  Board  of  Education,  of  the  State  of 
Massachusetts,  in  its  annual  report  to  the  Legislature 
for  1870, — “  The  public  school  system  of  New  Eng¬ 
land,  so  well  adapted  to  a  former  state  of  society 
fails  to  meet  the  demands  of  our  modern  civiliza¬ 
tion.” 

Hon.  John  Eaton,  U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Edu¬ 
cation,  commenting  upon  this  declaration,  pronoun¬ 
ces  it  to  be  “  the  indictment  of  the  thinkers  of  to¬ 
day  against  the  present  school  system.” 

Says  the  Massachusetts  Board  of  Education,  again , 
in  1872 : 

“  How  to  educate  our  children  and  secure  the 
best  results,  with  the  greatest  economy  of  time  and 
expense,  is  the  great  problem  of  the  day,  and  de¬ 
mands  the  best  thoughts  of  all  our  educators. 
There  is  an  opinion  prevalent  among  such  educa¬ 
tors  that,  while  our  schools  are  doing  a  great  and 
noble  work,  they,  are  not  accomplishing  all  that 
might  reasonably  be  expected  of  them, 

If  a  portion  of  the  time  wasted,  and  worse  than 
wasted,  in  the  attempt  to  memorize  the  endless  and 
senseless  details  of  geography  and  history,  the  tech¬ 
nicalities  of  grammar,  at  an  age  when  they  cannot 
be  understood,  and  long  examples  in  mental  arith' 
metic,  which,  with  their  complicated  solutions,  must 
be  given  with  closed  book,  and  in  precise,  logical 
terms,  could  be  given  to  some  studies  that  would 
really  interest  the  children,  develop  their  perceptive 
powers,  accustom  them  to  the  correct  use  of  lan¬ 
guage,  and  be  of  real  practical  value  to  them  in  af¬ 
ter  life,  more  satisfactory  results  than  are  now  at¬ 
tained  would  be  exhibited  at  the  close  of  the  child’s 
school  life.” 

The  following  is  of  recent  date,  from  a  member  of 
our  own  order,  Brother  Z.  E.  Jameson,  chairman  of 
the  Educational  Committee  of  the  State  Grange  of 
Vermont ; 


4 


He  says  in  a  letter  to  your  committee  dated 

Irasburg,  Vt.,  Dec.  3d,  1876. 

Worthy  Brother:  Your  educational  circular 
with  your  letter  is  at  hand. 

It  would  seem  reasonable  that,  the  newer  fettled 
States  should  receive  valuable  aid  and  ideas  from 
those  which  have  been  settled  alongertime.  Yet  the 
reverse  is  likely  to  be  true;  as  the  old  and  stupid  stay 
in  such  a  State  as  Vermont,  and  an  army  of  young 
men  and  women  have  gone  West,  right  from  the 
schools,  and  have,  with  their  higher  ideas,  found  a 
more  favorable  place  to  work,  and  aid  in  moulding 
growing  institutions. 

You  ask  what  we  are  doing  in  Vermont.  I  do 
not  know  of  a  common  school  in  Vermont  that  has 
much  furniture  besides  a  water  pail,  tin  cup  and  a 
rickety  chair,  except  the  immovable  desks  and  black¬ 
board.  Occasionally  outline  maps  are  hung  upon 
the  wall. 

Writing,  in  some  schools,  in  not  taught  at  all, 
some  terms,  while  with  the  change  of  teachers  it  will 
be  taught  other  terms  so  far  as  .  to  have  a  time  to 
write, for  those  who  buy  copy  books, and  to  set  copies 
for  those  who  bring  paper. 

The  schools  are  small  in  this  county,  averaging 
less  than  twenty  scholars  in  daily  attendance  in  each 
school.  These  are  of  all  ages  from  four  to  twenty 
years  old,  and  of  various  grades  of  ability  and  natur¬ 
ally  make  many  classes,  so  that  ten  minutes  or- so 
are  all  that  can  be  allowed  each  class.  They  read, 
spell  and  recite  geography,  arithmetic  and  grammar. 
Nothing  is  taught  of  music  or  drawing,  or  of  the 
soil,  stones,  vegetation,  birds,  insects  oranything  re¬ 
lating  to  any  craft  or  vocation.  The  better  the 
teacher  is  educated,  the  less  inclined  she  is  to  con¬ 
sider  industrial  pursuits  worthy  of  being  taught.  I 
say  she,  as  a  majority  of  teachers  in  common  schools 
are  females. 

The  education  the  common  people  get  does  not 
enable  them  to  exercise  that  fearless,  independent 
action  that  should  result  from  independent  thought 
and  a  consciousness  of  existing  wrongs. 

That  is,  in  caucuses,  conventions,  and  legislatures 
the  best  farmers  are  no  match  for  the  .ordinary  law¬ 
yer  ;  and  the  mass  of  farmers  are  as  helpless  to  de¬ 
mand  and  secure  their  rights  by  speaking  or  writing 
as  children  in  swaddling  clothes.  There  are  about 
80,000  children  in  the  State  and  the  cost  of  schools 
is  annually  about  $ 600,000 ,  yet  from  this  great  tax¬ 
ation  and  this  number  of  scholars,  if  there  are  a 
dozen  farmers  manufactured  that  can  exert  the  influ¬ 
ence  of  one  second  rate  lawyer,  the  fact  does  not 
appear.  Our  present  system  does  not  allow  of  a 
thorough  education,  without  driving  from  the  mind 
a  love  of  the  farm,  and  a  respect  for  all  manual  la¬ 
bor.” 

* — So  much  from  the  east  as  to  educational  de- 
fects.  I  now  turn  to  the  West.  Having  received 
into  its  population  largely  of  the  activity  and  intelli¬ 
gence  drained  from  the  East.it  is,  as  Brother  Jameson 
suggest,  taking  the  lead  in  bringing  forward  educa¬ 
tional  views  in  the  interest  of  agricaltural  industry. 

Hon.  Newton  Bateman,  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction  for  the  State  of  Illinois,  in  his  annual 
report  for  1876,  makes  a  most  forcible  arraignment 
of  the  defects  in  the  common  schools  of  the  coun¬ 
try, 


This  Report  is  a  very  able  one,  and  has  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  educators  and  thinkers  of  the 
whole  country,  and  with  almost  universal  commen¬ 
dation.  Says  the  editor  of  the  Atlantic  Monthly 
Magazine,  for  February  last,  in  a  lengthy  review  of 
this  report :  “Mr.  Bateman  discources  in  a  manner 
after  our  own  heart  upon  the  great  subjects  of  what 
the  common  schools  should  do  for  the  masses  of 
their  pupils,  and  what  should  be  their  course  of  study 
to  this  end. 

I  quote  briefly  from  Mr.  Bateman's  report : 

“Look  at  the  facts  as  they  have  existed  in  this 
State  from  the  beginning  of  the  free-school  system 
and  for  years  before.  What  have  been  the  studies 
prescribed  by  law  ?  Spelling,  reading,  writing,  arith¬ 
metic,  grammar,  geography  and  United  States  his¬ 
tory.  Who  first  marked  out  this  course  of  study, or 
what  consideration  led  to  its  original  adoption  and 
subsequent  tenacious  retention,  does  not  appear. 
But  if  the  author  ef  this  common-school  curriculum 
is  still  living,  a  contemplation  of  its  results  will  hardly 
induce  him  to  come  forth  and  claim  the  honor  of 
his  achievment.  *  *  *  If  it  were  distinctly  pro¬ 

posed  to  devise  a  scheme  whereby  the  schools  might 
be  rendered  the  least  profitable,  that  which  compels 
the  youth  of  the  State  to  spend  the  whole  of  their 
school  going  life  upon  the  famous  seven  branches  of 
the  old  Illinois  law,  to  the  total  exclusion  of 
everything  else,  must  be  regarded  as  a  "reasonably 
successful  solution  of  the  problem.  *  It  is  not  to 
be  denied  that  the  confidence  of  our  people  in  that 
great  American  institution,  the  public  school,  is  in 
danger  of  being  disturbed,  nor  is  this  state  of  things 
peculiar  to  Illinois,  but  is  substantially  common  to 
•all  the  States  and  to  the  whole  country.  Doubts, 
questionings,  murmurs  of  discontent,  mingled  with 
voices  of  direct  opposition, or  appeals  for  reconstruc¬ 
tion  and  improvement,  are  coming  up  from  every 
quarter  of  the  Union. 

And  in  illustration  of  his  position  Mr.  Bateman 
gives  extracts  from  an  extensive  correspondence 
with  parents  of  different  classes  and  occupations,  in 
which  are  described  the  miserable  failures  of  the 
public  schools  as  regards  individual  children  of 
the  individual  writers. 

Hon.  J.  M.  McKenzie,  State  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction  of  Nebraska  in  an  able  educa¬ 
tional  paper  addressed  to  this  committee,  in  response 
to  our  inquiries,  says : 

“My  observation  amply  proves  to  my  own  mind, 
that  the  schools  in  Nebraska,  are  not  above  criticism 
i  on  the  three  specifications :  “Superficial,  defective 
in  method,  and  narrow  in  scope.” 

Hon.  D.  Burt,  State  Superintendent  of  Minneso¬ 
ta,  says  : 

“  I  think  there  is  need  of  the  inquiry  and  investi- 
1  gation  proposed  by  your  committee.  We  must 
have  shorter  and  more  practical  courses  of  instruc¬ 
tion  in  the  fundamental  branches  for  our  common 
schools,  less  of  minute  details,  and  more  of  the  gen¬ 
eral  and  substantial.” 

Says  J.  M.  B.  Sill,  Superintendent  of  the  Detroit 
public  schools:  “I  am  in  deep  sympathy  v^ith  the 
efforts  you  are  making  in  behalf  of  a  more  uselul 
and  practical  education  in  our  common  schools.  I 
believe  there  is  ereat  force,  and  much  truth, in  your 


5 


objections  to  the  prevailing  mode  of  instruction  in 
arithmetic,  geography  and  grammar.” 

Says  Prof.  William  F.  Phelps,  President  of  the 
National  Educational  Association,  the  highest  edu¬ 
cational  authority  in  the  country  : 

“  No  more  important  subject  can  engage  the  at 
tention.  either  of  your  particular  organization,  or  of 
the  people  generally,  than  that  which  is  covered  by 
your  very  searching  and  intelligent  inquiries.  Upon 
the  proper  practical  solution  of  the  questions  raised 
in  your  circular,  largely  depends  the  real  success  of 
our  great  common  school  system,  and  the  prosperity 
and  well-being  of  the  citizens  of  this  republic,  more 
than  80  per  cent,  of  whom  belong  to  the  industrial 
classes  whose  school  period  is  limited  to  the  brief 
space  of  five  or  six  years.  Having  been  for  more 
than  thirty  years  engaged  in  the  work  of  elevating 
and  improving  our  common  schools,  and  having  be¬ 
stowed  the  best  thought  of  a  long  professional  life 
upon  the  problem  of  the  ways  and  means  to  that 
end,  I  am  prepared  to  announce  myself  as  in  hear¬ 
ty  sympathy  with  the  views  expressed  in  your  cir¬ 
cular,  except  perhaps  in  some  minor  particulars. 
Indeed  it  has  been  the  chief  aim  of  my  public  la¬ 
bors,  writings,  and  speeches,  for  many  years  to  advo¬ 
cate  the  reforms  suggested  in  the  communication  of 
your  committee,  and  I  am  about  assuming  edito.ial 
charge  of  a  weekly  educational  journal  whose  lead¬ 
ing  object  it  is  to  press  these  conclusions  upon  the 
attention  of  the  American  people,  and  to  secure  a 
thorough  reformation  in  the  organization,  course  of 
study,  and  methods  of  teaching  in  our  common 
schools  adapting  them  more  completely  to.  the  needs 
of  the  great  industrial  classes  of  the  country.” 

Prof.  Phelps,  besides  occupying  the  prominent  po¬ 
sition  of  President  of  the  National  Educational  As¬ 
sociation,  an  organization  which  embraces  in  its 
membership  the  live  educators  of  the  whole- coun¬ 
try,  state  superintendents,  >  editors  of  educational 
journals,  presidents  and  professors  of  colleges  and 
universities,  etc. ,  is  also,  president  of  one  of  the 
best  State  normal  schools ;  that  at  Whitewater, 
Wisconsin.  The  communication  addressed  by  him 
to  our  committee  is  an  able  and  eloquent  appeal  in 
behalf  of  education  for  the  industrial  classes.  Brev¬ 
ity  compels  us  to  make  but  brief  extracts  from  it  as 
from  other  like  responses  to  our  inquiries. 

Says  J,  B.  Merwiri,  editor  of  the  American  Jour¬ 
nal  of  Education: 

“  If  your  committee  shall  be  able  to  meet  the  de¬ 
mand  upon  it,  by  so  adjusting  the  curriculum  of  the 
common  school  studies,  as  that  the  88  per  cent,  shall 
be  set  forward — as  thev  ought  to  be,  and  might  be — 
by  improved  ‘methods,’  Kansas  will  again  lead  oft-, 
with  an  inspiration,  so  strong  and  grand,  as  to  bring 
unexampled  prosperity  and  progress  now,  to  the 
people,  as  she  did  in  historical  times,  by  gone  ” 

Says  G.  Sprague,  editor  of  the  Western  Home 
Journal,  Des  Moines,  Iowa: 

“  There  is  no  denying  the  fact  that  our  system  of 
education  is  too  much  confined  to  a  rut.  Teachers 
become  enthusiasts  not  in  the  direction  of  making 
education  simple  and  practical,  but  in  aiming  at  the 
greatest  attainable  evidences  of  the  strain  to  which 
the  young  mind  is  susceptible,  overlooking  useful 
results,  and  practical  applications.” 


Thomas  Meehan,  editor  of  the  Gardener’s 
Monthly,  thus  addresses  us: 

“  Our  system  of  common  school  education  is  too 
diffuse,  I  wish  itxiould  be  simplified.  The  difficul¬ 
ty  is  to  do  better.  To  teach  in  a  more  practical  way 
requires  a  different  order  of  teachers,  and  fewer 
scholars  to  each  teacher.  I  have  never  been  satis¬ 
fied  with  our  present  system.” 

Says  Gen.  John  Fraser,  State  Superintendent  of 
Puplic  Instruction  for  Kansas: 

“Time  required  for  giving  instruction  in  added 
branches  can  be  easily  found  by  restraining  within 
proper  limits,  arithmetic,  English  gratnmar,  and 
Geography;  which  have  run  wild  in  our  common 
schools.” 

Says  H.  D.  McCarty,  late  Superintendent  of  Pub¬ 
lic  Instruction  for  Kansas: 

Your  educational  inquiries,  are  undoubtedly  in 
the  right  direction  and  to  the  point.  I  believe  with 
you  “that  the  educational  work  now  done  in  the 
schools,  is  ist,  superficial,  2d,  defective  in  method 
and  3d,  narrow  in  scope,”  arising  no  doubt  from 
the  faulty  manner  in  which  the  school  text-books 
are  written  and  the  slavish  adherence  of  teachers  to 
the  printed  page. The  great  trouble  with  text-books  in 
general  is,  they  are  too  voluminous.  If  school  books 
were  condensed  into  one-half  the  number  of  vol¬ 
umes  and  one-fourth  the  quantity  of  matter,  better 
scholars  would  be  made  in  much  less  time  than  at 
present.  The  child’ s  mind  is  overburdened  with  too 
much  uni  eportant  matter,  which  crowds  out  the  es¬ 
sentials  of  a  good  education.” 

Says  Mrs.  Olive  E.  .Stout,  the  able  Superinten¬ 
dent  of  Public  Instruction  for  Jackson  county,  Kan¬ 
sas  : 

“  I  do  think  that  too  much  time  is  given  to  the 
study  of  arithmetic,  geography  and  grammar.  Pu¬ 
pils  in  the  district  schools  do  not  take  up  any  of  the 
higher  branches  of  study,  and  seldom  reach  the 
practical  parts  of  either  arithmetic  or  grammar.” 

Says  Brother  M.  E.  Hudson,  Master  of  the  Kan¬ 
sas  State  Grange : 

“  The  subject  you  have  in  hand  is  one  that  needs 
probing  to  the  bottom.  Our  educational  system  is 
sadly  at  fault  somewhere.  Our  common  schools 
cost  four  times  what  they  did  forty  years  ago,  and 
yet,  pupils  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  leaving 
the  common  schools,  had  a  better  practical  educa¬ 
tion  than  now: — anjJ  that,  notwithstanding  the 
further  fact  that  our  children  attend  school  twice  as 
long,  on  an  average,  now.  as  then.  Wtiy  is  this?” 

Master  Hudson  adds:  “We  hope  your  committee 
will  be  as  thorough  as  time  will  permit,  in  your  re¬ 
port.  Ventilate  the  present  system.  Give  the  edu¬ 
cators  a  bone  to  crack,  and  the  farmers  and  work¬ 
ers  of  your  country,  some  new  food  for  thought  on 
this  vital  question.” 

Says  Prof.  M.  V.  B.  Knox,  of  Baldwin  Universi¬ 
ty,  Kansas  : 

“  I  am  thoroughly  of  the  opinion  that  there  should 
be  a  radical  change  in  our  school  couise  of  study. 
From  the  common  schools,  students  come  to  us  very 
deficient,  especially  in  grammar,  composition  and 
penmanship.  Geography  is  better  reached,  but 
arithmetic  is  spread  over  far  too  much  ground.” 


6 


Prof.  Wm.  K.  Kedzie,  of  the  Kansas  State 
Agricultural  College,  says  : 

“  I  believe  your  work  will  result  in  most  substans 
tial  good  for  the  common  school  system  of  this  State. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  curriculum  of  our 
common  schools  is  unnecessarily  narrow  in  its  scope; 
and  the  amount  of  time  spent  on  certain  branches  of 
study,  to  the  utter  exclusion  of  others  of  equal  ims 
portance,  is  little  better  than  wasted.  This  is  espe¬ 
cially  true  of  some  studies ;  in  particular :  English 
grammar  for  instance ;  which,  if  a  better  method 
cannot  be  found  for  teaching  it,  it  should  be  thrown 
out  bodily  from  our  school  studies.” 

Prof.  F.  H.  Snow  of  the  Kansas  State  University 
says; 

“  Allow  me  to  express  my  full  and  hearty  sympa¬ 
thy  with  you  in  this  movement  to  reform  the  course 
of  study  in  our  public  schools.  I  have  long  been 
convinced  that  more  than  half  the  time  spent  by  our 
children  in  the  common  schools,  is  worse  than  wasts 
ed  in  the  attempt  to  make  a  curriculum  which  is  in 
direct  opposition  to  the  natural  order  of  develops 
ment  of  the  faculties  of  the  human  mind.  It  seems 
to  me  that  there  should  be  a  radical  change  in  our 
methods  of  instruction  for  children  between  the 
ages  of  five  and  fifteen.  They  should  no  longer  be 
required  to  devote  their  chief  attention  to  the  mem¬ 
orizing  of  abstract  rules  in  arithmetic  and  grammar, 
and  of  unimportant  geographical  facts.  The  time 
now  squandered  in  this  way  should  be  devoted  to 
studies  which  not  only  furnish  a  valuable  training  to 
the  power  of  observation  but  also  impart  informa¬ 
tion  of  great  practical  value  to  the  masses  of  our 
people.” 

AN  APOLOGY  FOR  TEACHERS. 

As  the  strictures  here  made,  reflect  with  a  consid¬ 
erable  measure  of  severity  upon  the  teachers  of  our 
State,  and  point  to  the  fact  of  their  lack  of  essential 
qualifications  for  their  important  duties,  it  is  due  to 
them,  that  I  should  point  also  to  the  greater  respons 
sibilty  and  greater  lack  of  duty  on  the  part  of  those 
who  make  the  laws  of  the  State  governing  the 
schools : — of  those  who  are  responsible  for  the  edus 
cation  of  teachers,  for  the  framing  of  courses  of 
study  and  the  direction  and  supervision  of  the  school 
work.  As  the  children  of  farmers  and  other  indus¬ 
trial  classes  comprise  88  per  cent,  of  the  children  of 
the  State,  so  do  the  fathers  of  the  children,  comprise 
88  per  cent.,  or  ninestenths  of  the  voters  of  the 
State.  We  then  who  make  the  complaint  of  the  ins 
capacity  of  the  teachers  of  our  children,  must  not 
forget  that  the  representatives  in  the  legislature 
whom  we  elect,  make  the  laws  governing  the  schools; 
and  the  laws  which  provide  for  the  education  ot 
teachers.  We  must  remember  that  it  is  from  our 
portion  of  the  population  that  a  large  majority  of  the 
teachers  come.  It  is  our  sons  and  daughters,  and 
the  sons*and  daughters  of  our  neighbors  whom  we 
condemn,  when  we  condemn  the  teachers  of  our 
State  for  their  improper,  and  valueless  methods  of 
instruction.  We  have  not  provided  for  their  edu¬ 
cation  as  teachers.  In  most  cases  their  only  educas 
tion  has  been,  in  the  very  schools  we  condemn. 
Their  only  models,  as  instructors,  have  been  the 
book  memorizing  teachers  whom  we  have  employed 
to  teach  them.  How  then  should  they  do  better 


than  those  faulty  instructors  whose  examples,  only 
we  have  permitted  them  to  observe  ? 

Let  us  then  be  charitable  towards  the  teachers  of 
our  children : — remembering  that  one-half  of  them, 
at  least,  are  but  children  themselves ;  scarcely  hav* 
ing  arrived  at  the  age  of  majority,  with  immature 
and  uncultured  minds,  with  no  means  of  proper  ob¬ 
servation  and  instruction  in  their  duties  and  with  no 
well  directed  experiences  in  their  work.  Let  us  ap¬ 
ply  to  ourselves  the  condemnation  which  so  justly 
falls  upon  our  school  methods ;  and  let  us,  if  we 
really  mean  to  fulfill  the  obligations  we  have  taken 
upon  ourselves  as  patrons  of  husbandry  “to  advance 
the  cause  of  education  for  our  children  by  all  just 
means  within  our  power,”  inquire  what  are  our  du¬ 
ties,  individually,  and  collectively,  in  the  work  of  re¬ 
forming  the  methods  of  instruction  employed  in  the 
schools  where  our  children  are  educated. 

SPECIFIC  DEFECTS. 

As  to  arithmetic,  I  appeal  to  the  observation  of 
all,  if  it  is  not  a  fact  that  it  is  rarely  the  case  that  the 
boy  or  girl  from  our  common  schools  exhibits  any 
practical  ability  to  perform  operations  in  numbers, 
in  the  common  transactions  in  business?  This  is 
true,  as  almost  ever  parent  knows  who  has  sought 
the  aid  of  his  boy  in  computations  relating  to  sales 
or  purchases.  Neither  proficiency  nor  accuracy 
marks  any  effort  made  in  such  computations.  Yet 
the  boy  has  gone  through  his  arithmetic.  He  has 
memorized,  and,  if  fresh  from  school,  possibly  can  res 
peat  the  rules  for  the  most  difficult  operations.  He 
has  performed  all  the  examples  under  every  rule  in 
his  book;  of  several  hundred  pages.  But  set  him  to 
add  a  ledger  column  of  dollars  and  cents,  and,  after 
much  labor  he  will  get  an  incorrect  footing.  Ask 
him  to  make  for  you  a  statement,  from  your  books 
of  an  account,  for  use  in  a  settlement  you  may  desire 
to  make,  and  he  will  be  utterly  unable  to  do  it.  He 
neither  knows  how  to  head  the  statement,  how  to 
set  out  the  items,  how  to  place  the  credits,  nor  how 
to  show  the  balance.  Ask  him  to  compute  the  in¬ 
terest  on  a  promissory  note  you  may  have  falling  due, 
and.  though  hfc  remembers  to  have  studied  the  sub¬ 
ject  of  interest,  he  has  no  recollection  of  what  rule 
applies  to  the  matter  in  hand,  and  he  gives  it  up  as 
something  not  taught  in  his  arithmetic.  Yet  he  has 
gone  through  his  arithmetic  ;  and  has  memorized  a 
hundred  rules  and  definitions ,  and,  of  course  the 
very  rules  which  apply  to  the  cases  in  hand.  He 
has  skimmed  over, — all  that  he  should  have  thor¬ 
oughly  learned,  and  tasked  his  memory,  infinitely, 
oyer  that  which  he  should  never  have  been  asked  to 
learn. 

Possibly  all  who  hear  me  do  not  know  that  such 
results  come  from  existing  and  prevailing  methods 
of  teaching  arithmetic  in  our  common  schools. 
Some  may  not  have  observed — may  not  have  in¬ 
quired  of  those  who  have  observed.  Business  men 
will  tell  you  that  our  boys  from  school  are  good  for 
nothing ;  wholly  unreliable  in  computati  >ns  until 
they  have  gone  through  a  business  experience  and 
practice  out  of  school.  Educators,  the  more  intelli¬ 
gent,  all  who  have  come  to  really  consider  the  subs 
ject,  are  now  admitting  that  such  results  come  from 
existing  methods. 


7 


Let  me  read  some  testimony  on  the  subject : 

Says  Hon,  Newton  Bateman,  State  Superinten¬ 
dent  of  Illinois. 

“  Much  precious  time  is  also  wasted  upon  ariths 
metic.  It  is  believed  that  the  average  common 
school  textsbook  contains  double  the  amount  of 
matter  necessary  or  advisable,  and  hence  that  half 
of  the  time  spent  thereon,  if  not  wasted,  could  be 
much  more  profitably  devoted  to  other  studies. 

There  lies  before  me  a  popular  school  arithmetic, 
of  about  four  hundred  pages.  It  is  deservedly  pop¬ 
ular,  one  of  the  best  of  which  I  have  any  knowl¬ 
edge — in  some  important  particulars,  the  very  best. 
It  is  in  use  in  hundreds  of  our  common  district 
schools — probably  in  thousands.  It  was  made  for 
common  schools,  the  title-page  so  declares.  Turn¬ 
ing  the  leaves  of  this  book,  I  note,  at  random,  among 
the  topics  discussed  at  considerable  length,  the  fol¬ 
lowing  useful  and  practical  matters :  Least  common 
multiple  of  complex  fractions ;  duodecimals ;  re¬ 
peating  decimals;  average  of  accounts;  conjoined 
proportion;  alligation,  medial  and  alternate;  square 
root  and  cube  root ;  arithmetical  and  geometrical 
progression ;  casting  out  the  9’s  in  multiplication 
and  division ;  the  metric  system ;  commutation  of 
radix,  &c.,  &c. 

The  list  given  of  topics  which  are  of  no  actual,  if 
imaginable,  benefit  to  one  common  school  pupil  in 
ten  thousand — viewed  from  the  utilitarian  stand¬ 
point — might  be  more  -than  doubled.  They  abound 
in  all  the  practical  arithmetics  of  the  country.  They 
have  come  down  to  us,  some  of  them,  by  a  kind  of 
inevitable  literary  descent,  from  a  period  1  know  not 
how  remote.  And  these  are  the  very  subjects  that 
require  the  most-  time.  Among  those  enumerated, 
there  are  several  the  mastery  of  any  one  of  which 
demands  more  time  and  effort  than  all  fundamental 
principles  and  operations  of  arithmetic  put  together; 
and,  for  any  practical  use,  ninety-nine  district  school 
children  out  of  every  hundred  might  as  well  be  set 
to  guessing  conundrums.  I  knew  a  boy  who  spent 
all  the  spare  time  he  could  command  for  an  entire 
term — more  than  an  hour  each  day — upon  circula¬ 
ting  decimals  and  alligation  ;  and  when  he  had  mas¬ 
tered  them,  the  poor  child  thought  he  knew  some¬ 
thing  !  and  so  he  did,  but  what?  He  completed  the 
district  school  course,  shouldered  his  implements  of 
toil,  and  went  bravely  out  to  earn  his  bread  by  the 
sweat  of  his  face.  Of  Nature  and  her  works,  her 
protean  changes,  her  laws  and  forces,  her  glories 
and  harmonies,  he  was  ignorant :  the 
“  Primrose  by  the  river’s  brim 
A  yellow  primrose  was  to  him, 

And  it  was  nothing  more.” 

But  then,  he  knew  all  about  repeating  decimals,  and 
alligation,  medial  and  alternate  !  ” 

Says  Hon.  J.  M.  McKenzie,  State  Superintendent 
of  Nebraska,  from  whose  communication  I  haye  al¬ 
ready  quoted : 

"In  regard  to  arithmetic  I  am  confident  much 
time  is  wasted  because  of  the  defective  methods  em? 
ployed  and  the  haste  in  passing  over  the  elementary 
principles.  Pupils  wander  over  a  dreary  waste  in 
worse  than  Egyptian  darkness  because  the  teacher 
permits  tlim  to  pa§s  Qy§f  principles  tie  does  not  un¬ 


derstand  and  cannot  apply.  Rapid  and  accurate 
combination  of  numbers  should  be  the  leading  ob¬ 
ject  of  the  teacher.  Daily  mental  drills  should  be 
given  the  whole  school  in  addition  and  subtraction  : 
so  long  as  the  pupil  remains  in  our  common  school 
he  should  never  be  considered  sufficiently  expert  in 
these.  I  have  long  been  of  the  opinion  that  there  is 
too  much  abstract  theory  in  our  arithmetical  teach¬ 
ing.  Whether  our  text-books  contain  more  ex¬ 
amples  or  not  the  intelligent  teacher  will  find  them 
and  give  them  to  the  pupil.  Square  and  Cube  root — 
Alligation — Arbitration  —  Annuities  —  Permutation, 
&c.,  should  only  be  noticed  if  at  all  in  the  appendix 
of  the  common  school  arithmetic.  While  the  pupil 
should  be  taught  precision  in  the  use  of  language  in 
stating  principles  clearly  and  definitely,  he  should 
not  be  forced  to  memorize  any  special  formula  as  a 
cast-iron  frame  work  for  the  solution  of  examples. 
Constant  application  of  principles  to  the  solution  of 
practical  problems  arising  in  the  transaction  of  busi¬ 
ness,  with  all  the  forms  of  notes,  receipts,  bills,  and 
book  accounts,  should  engage  the  pupil’s  time  and 
attention.” 

Says  Hon.  C.  W.  Van  Ceolln,  State  Superinten¬ 
dent  of  Public  Instruction  of  Iowa : 

"In  arithmetic,  educators  and  authors  seem  to 
have  overlooked,  to  a  considerable  extent,  that  it  has 
to  do  with  practical  life,  and  they  have  taken  pains 
to  puzzle,  with  curiously  worded  rules, the  scholar  and 
the  teacher.  I  agree  with  the  course  indicated  in  your 
questions ;  and  enforce  them,  by  saying,  that  a  child 
well  trained  in  addition,  substraction,  multiplication 
and  diyision,  with  a  proper  amount  of  common 
sense,  is  superior  as  an  arithmetician  to  the  average 
scholar  trained,  by  our  present  system  of  teaching 
arithmetic.” 

Says  Brother  H.  E.  Huxley,  Secretary  of  the 
Wisconsin  State  Grange : 

"  I  agree  with  you  in  every  respect  on  the  subject 
of  arithmetic.  As  to  the  number  of  examples  in 
our  text-books,  I  think  they  should  be  largely  in¬ 
creased  and  all  answers  to  problems  should  be  omits 
ted  :  A  pupil  is  apt  to  use  less  reasoning  when  the 
answer  is  before  him.  I  also  think  the  first  four 
fundamental  principles  in  arithmetic  ought  to  be 
very  thoroughly  taught  until  perfect  accuracy  and 
rapidity  are  acquired.  Your  ideas  of  memorizing 
rules  and  definitions  are  I  think  excellent.  Schol¬ 
ars  often  quote  long  rules  with  no  understanding  of 
the  same.” 

The  views  expressed  by  us  to  which  Brother  Hux¬ 
ley  refers  and  which  he  so  fully  endorses  are  indica¬ 
ted  in  the  following  inquiries  from  our  circular : 

"In  Arithmetic,  should  not  the  subjects  of  study  be 
limited  to  those  in  which  are  found,  only,  examples 
of  such  operations  as  enter  into  the  common  trans¬ 
actions  of  business  ? 

Should  not  the  memorizing  of  rules  and  defini¬ 
tions  in  arithmetic,  be,  for  the  most  part,  dispensed 
with  ?  In  lieu  of  such  memorizing,  should  not  a 
thorough  familiarity  with  practical  operations  be 
taught :  as  a  better  means, 

ist,  Of  mental  discipline,  and 

2d,  Of  storing  the  mind  with  useful  kqowled^q 

wd  experience? 


8 


Should  not  the  number  of  arithmetical  exercises 
be  largely  increased : 

ist,  As  calculated  to  induce  habits  of  rapidity 
and  accuracy  in  computations  ? 

2d,  For  the  object  of  familiarizing  the  pupil  with 
the  best  mode  of  performing  common  practical 
business  operations?” 

Says  Dr.  Marvin,  Chancellor  of  the  State  Univer¬ 
sity  : 

“  I  have  long  held  and  often  expressed  the  opin¬ 
ion,  that  all  of  ouroommon  scnooi  text-books  were 
too  voluminous.  In  arithmetic,  we  find  the  whole 
scope  of  applied  mathematics  even  to  the  calculus 
of  series,  and  computations  of  higher  roots. — Pa¬ 
rents  purchase,  and  feel  defrauded  when  teachers 
suggest  the  omission  of  any  parts  of  these  books  in 
their  course  of  instruction.  Much  in  these  books  is 
never  applied  in  ordinary  practice  and  is  too  care¬ 
lessly  passed  over  to  secure  any  good  purpose  as 
mental  discipline.” 

Says  Prof.  M.  M.  Campbell  of  the  Indiana  State 
University : 

“  Arithmetic  too,  though  an  essential  study,  might 
well  stop  with  fractions,  provided  the  subject  of 
Proportion,  under  which  falls  nearly  all  the  practi¬ 
cal  ciphering  of  common  life,  were  fully  mastered.” 

Prest.  Wm.  F.  Phelps,  of  the  National  Educational 
Association,  and  Wisconsin  State  Normal  School, 
thus  epitomizes  his  views : 

“  In  Arithmetic,  the  principal  objects  in  the  com¬ 
mon  schools  should  be,  ist,  to  familiarize  the  pupil 
with  the  power  of  numbers;  2d,  to  give  facility  and 
accuracy  in  writing,  reading,  adding,  subtracting, 
multiplying  and  dividing  them;  3d,  to  impart  a 
thorough  knowledge  and  skill  in  handling  fractions 
and  decimals;  4th,  to  acquaint  the  child  with  the 
weights  and  measures  of  the  country  and  their  appli  ¬ 
cation,  and  with  per  centage  and  its  applications 
to  the  problems  of  daily  life.  Accuracy  and  rapid¬ 
ity  here  are  all  important,  leaving  reasons  to  be 
sought  in  the  school  of  life  by  those  who  have  the 
capacity,  dispositio'n,  and  leisure  to  pursue  them.” 

GEOGRAPHY. 

In  geography,  by  prevailing  methods,  there  is 
far  too  much  abstract  memorizing ;  too  much 
forced  effort  to  load  the  memory  with  definitions 
and  descriptions  so  unconnected  with  events  and 
narrative,  as  that  the  study  is  divested  of  all  interest 
and,  consequently,  no  lasting  impressions  are  left 
upon  the  pupil’s  minds.  The  facts  are  imposed  upon 
the  memory  repulsively,  and  are  therefore  soon  for¬ 
gotten.  Definitions  of  natural  divisions,  and  long 
descriptions  of  countries  and  their  physical  features 
are  required  to  be  memorized  in  a  manner  so  disso¬ 
ciated  from  every  thing  within  the  pupil’s  knowledge1 
or  within  the  scope  of  his  reading  and  conversation, 
that  no  thought  or  consciousness  is  elicited  that  that 
upon  which  the  mental  effort  is  expended  has  any 
relation  to  the  world  in  which  we  live. 

We  subjoin  the  experience  and  views  of  brother 
C.  C.  Post,  worthy  Secretary  of  the  Indiana  State 
Grange,  given  our  committee  on  this  subject.  He 
says: 

‘‘When  I  was  14  years  old  I  could  look  on  the  | 
map  and  tell  the  name  of  nearly  every  stream,  lake,  , 


city,  or  mountain  in  the  United  States.  Ten  years 
afterwards  I  only  remembered  such  as  I  had  con¬ 
nected  with  some  idea  or  fact.  I  remembered  the 
position  of  New  Orleans  because  of  its  connection 
with  the  history  of  the  country.  And  I  remembered 
cities,  towns  and  rivers  in  America,  and  Europe,  and 
Asia,  not,  as  I  verily  believe,  because  I  had  learned 
them  from  the  map,  but  because  I  had  learned  to 
connect  them  with  some  fact  in  history,  gleaned 
from  book  or  newspaper  that  fell  in  my  way.  And 
if  I  were  to  attempt  to  teach  another  I  would  select 
for  his  readihg  a  history  of  the  country  of  which  I 
wished  to  teach  the  geography,  and  wifh  that  and  a 
globe,  and  the  newspaper,  carefully  selecting  articles 
descriptive  of  life ,  and  chronicling  passing  events 
in  the  country  to  be  studied,  I  believe  the  pupil 
would  fix  more  firmly  in  his  mind  the  geography  of 
a  country  in  a  month  than  he  would  in  a  year  in  the 
way  usually  employed.  He  would,  too,  be  acquir¬ 
ing  a  love  for  study  and  reading.  The  occasional 
searching  of  the  map  for  places  of  which  he  read, 
would  give  a  knowledge  of  all  countries,  and  the  re¬ 
lation  they  bear  to  each  other,,  geographically, 
commercially  and  politically,  and  would  make  ?«- 
teresting  to  most  minds,  what  is  generally  of  very 
little  interest.” 

Says  Prof.  M.  M.  Campbell,  late  of  the  Indiana 
State  University  :  "In  geography,  too,  too  much 
time  is  spent  In  useless  details.  After  the  grand  di¬ 
visions  and  great  features  of  the  earth  are  learned, 
and  the  pupil  is  shown  how  to  use  his  maps  and 
globes  aright,  he  has  no  need  to  study  the  details 
and  minuter  features  pf  any  country  but  his  own. 
Should  pleasure  or  profit  lead  him,  in  after  life,  to 
travel  or  traffic  abroad,  then  is  the  time  to  hunt  up 
the  details  in  geography  that  he  expects  .to  need. 
Such  details  would  now  be  forgotten  and  thus  would 
have  to  be  all  learned  again  if  they  had  been  learned 
at  school  twenty  years  before,  or  even  ten.” 

ENGLISH  GRAMMAR.  LANGUAGE. 

?n  respect  to  the  study  of  English  Grammar,  the 
methods  prevailing  are  open  to  still  greater  objec¬ 
tion.  As  taught  in  most  of  our  common  schools, 
considering  the  time  wasted,  it  would  be  better  if 
the  entire  study  were  abolished.  We  speak  from  ex¬ 
perience  and  observation  ; — and  we  appeal  to  your 
experience  and  observation,  of  those  of  you  who 
have  committed  whole  grammar  books  to  memory, 
have  learned  to  parse  11  Milton’s  Paradise  Lost  ”  all 
through,  have  learned  to  analyze  the  most  com¬ 
plicated  sentences  according  to  the  modern  meth¬ 
ods,  if  you  know  of  any  advantage  justifying  the  la¬ 
bor  expended  in  acquiring  such  accomplishment ; 
if  that  can  be  called  an  accomplishment  which  per¬ 
forms  no  service  in  this  busy  world  of  ours  ;  which 
he  who  acquires  never  thinks  of,  or  hears  spoken  of 
after  having  left  the  school-room  in  which  he  sought 
to  memorize  it  ? 

The  object  of  instruction  in  English  Grammar 
should  be :  To  inculcate  habitual  expression  in 
speaking  and  writing  the  English  language  in  accor¬ 
dance  with  correct  usage. 

It  is  a  subject  of  practice,  and  not  of  abstract 
study.  As  men  learn  to  plow  by  plowing,  and 


women  learn  to  make  bread  by  kneading  and  baking, 
so  no  one  ever  did  or  ever  can  learn  to  write  the 
language  he  speaks,  except  by  writing.  And  he 
cannot  acquire  the  habit  of  correct  speaking, 
except  by  practice  in  speaking  as  others  speak,  who 
speak  correctly. 

But  the  method  prevailing  in  our  schools  does  not 
consist  of  such  practice.  On  the  contrary,  it  con¬ 
sists  of  the  memorizing  of  definitions,  rules,  excep¬ 
tions,  distinctions  and  formulas,  without  practice  in 
speaking  and  writing,  according  to  correct  usage  : 
without  an  application  of  that  which  is  memorized. 

Effort  is  made  by  this  irrational  method  to  have 
whole  volumes  memorized  by  the  pupil  without  any 
proper  ractical  application,  in  speaking  and  writing 
according  to  the  memorized  rules.  As  a  conse¬ 
quence,  the  study  is  as  wholly  void  of  useful  results,  as 
it  is  void  of  interest  to  the  pupils  who  pursue  it.  It 
is  indeed  pursued  under  protest.  The  subject  is 
never  thought  of  out  of  school  except  with  repug¬ 
nance.  If,  in  after  life,  practice  in  writing  is  under¬ 
taken,  or  if,  from  pride,  or  any  other  motive,  effort 
is  made  to  correct  bad  habits  in  speaking,  the  rules 
of  grammar,  memorized  at  school,  have  been  for¬ 
gotten,  or  rest  so  vaguely  in  the  memory  that  their 
application  to  the  sentence  or  phrase  in  hand  is  be¬ 
yond  all  discovery  or  recognition. 

Systems  of  parsing  and  analysis  are  employed  in¬ 
volving  mental  ability  and  mental  effort  far  above 
the  powers  of  pupils  in  these  schools  to  master,  or 
to  have  have  any  just  appreciation  of  To  the  old, 
and  sufficiently  difficult  and  objectionable  ones,  new 
systems  have  been  supplemented,  till  the  study  has 
really  become  one,  more  difficult  of  comprehension 
than  are  the  systems  of  logic  employed  in  the  col¬ 
leges  and  universities.  The  founders  of  these  ab¬ 
stract,  memorizing,  analytical  schemes  for  torturing 
the  brains  and  wearying  the  patience  of  our  children, 
seem  to  have  projected  them  under  the  apprehension 
that  they  involve  a  disciplinary  study  of  considerable 
value :  that  such  study  develops  the  intellectual 
powers,  sharpens  the  mind  to  criticism,  and  opens 
up  to  the  pupil  the  philosophy  of  language.  But 
this  claim  has  no  foundation,  neither  in  fact  nor  in 
philosophy.  On  the  contrary,  grammar  by  these 
methods  is  a  study  hurtful  to  the  intellect.  It  is  a 
study  so  loaded  down  with  unapplied,  and  to  these 
pupils  unmeaning  terms,  definitions,  rules,  excep¬ 
tions  a. id  distinctions,  and  its  facts  and  principles 
are  so  far  beyond  comprehension,  that  it  is  not  in 
the  least  disciplinary.  It  involves  mental  toil  with¬ 
out  mental  appreciation  to  such  a  degree  that  it 
checks  mental  development  rather  than  stimulates 
it.  It  is  mental  drudgery  of  a  very  hurtful  charac¬ 
ter,  because  it  tends  to  create  in  the  mind  of  the  pu¬ 
pil  a  distaste  for  all  study,  an  aversion  for  the  pur¬ 
suit  of  all  learning.  The  failure  to  comprehed  and 
retain  in  the  memory  the  long  list  of  definitions, 
rules,  excentions,  distinctions  and  formulas  brings  to 
the  mind  of  many  a  child  a  disheartening  conviction 
of  mental  incapacity  ;  a  mental  sensation,  a  soul 
crushing  conviction,  we  might  almost  say,  which  no 
school  requirement  should  ever  bring  home  to  the 
mind  of  any  youthful  human  being.  No  course  of 
study  should  be  prescribed  in  any  school  which  does 


not  carry  with  it  constant  encouragement  to  the  pu¬ 
pil,  which  does  not  keep  alive  self-respect  and  self- 
confidence,  and  bring  home  to  the  mind,  day  by 
day,  a  feeling  that  progress  is  being  made*  that  new 
thoughts  in  nature  have  come  into  possession,  and 
that  new  powers  of  action  are  being  acquired,  pre. 
paratory  to  the  discharge  of  duty  in  the  actual  affairs 
of  life. 

It  is  a  little  difficult  to  explain  how  this  irrational 
method  of  teaching  grammar  has  come  to  be  so 
nearly  universally  prevalent.  It  may  be  said  to  have 
come,  however,  from  the  combined  ignorance, 
thoughtlessness,  cupidity  and  stupidity,  of  book  ma¬ 
kers,  book  publishers  and  bookish  teachers* 

Under  the  hallucination  that  by  memorizing  book- 
made  rules  and  formulas,  correct  speaking  and  writ¬ 
ing  can  be  imparted  scores  and  scores  of  school 
book  authors  have  tried  their  hands  at  grammar  mak¬ 
ing.  Almost  every  teacher  has  his  favorite  author 
on  this  subject,  and  between  the  persistency  of  the 
agents  of  book  sellers,  and  the  diversity  of  choice 
among  teachers,  changes  are  constantly  made  in  the 
text  book  ou  this  subject  till  our  houses  fairly  be¬ 
come  lumbered  up  with  with  rejected  books  on 
English  Grammar. 

It  is  true  that  there  arc  some  thinkers  among  the 
authors  of  these  books  of  grammar,  who  have  made 
their  books  with  no  intention  that  they  should  be 
memorized,  and  have  plainly  £o  said  in  their  instruc¬ 
tions  to  teachers.  Such  books  have  been  made  for 
use  solely  as  guides  to  practice.  Yet  in  the  hands  of 
most  teachers  practice  is  omitted,  and  the  books  are 
required  to  be  memorized  by  pupils  without  prac¬ 
tice. 

I  hold  in  my  hankl  a  book  of  this  character,  which 
has  been,  as  you  see,  worn  out  in  memorizing.  The 
author  in  his  suggestions  to  teachers  plainly  says: 

“  Keeping  in  mind  the  main  purpose  of  these 
lessons,  namely  the  teaching  both  of  correct  and 
improved  expression,  and  that  in  its  immediate  con¬ 
nection  with  thinking  the  teacher  will  see  how 
important  it  is  to  encourage  the  children  to  speak 
|  and  write  with  the  utmost  freedom.  Let  them 
narrate  any  incident  occurring  in  their  dally  expe¬ 
rience,  in  their  reading,  or  in  their  lessons.  Let 
them  learn  to  use  paper  and  pen  or  slate  and  pencil, 
almost  as  readilyas  they  use  the  tongue.  Let  them 
answer  questions  for  review  on  any  of  their  studies 
in  writing.  Let  them  express  their  requests  to  the 
teacher  in  a  neatly  written  form.  Let  them  write  a 
description  of  the  most  common  occurrences  — not 
as  a  task,  but  as  a  pleasant  way  of  talking  silently. 

The  teacher  should  participate  in  these  exercises, 
entering  with  interest  into  their  thoughts  and  feel¬ 
ings,  as  the  surest  way  to  acquaint  himself  with  their 
scanty  resources  oflanguage,  not  forgetting  that  he 
who  elevates  the  thoughts  of  children  is  sure  to  ele¬ 
vate  their  expressions. 

In  the  processes  of  pruning  and  correcting  let  all 
participate ,  remembering  that  what  may  be  regard¬ 
ed  as  odious  criticism  forms  but  a  part  of  the  work. 
One  may  suggest  a  better  word,  another  a  better 
combination,  another  a  better  arrangement,  and  still 
another  a  more  refined  and  elsvated  turn  of  the 
thought,  while  the  teacher  acts  as  umpire,  giving 


10 


words  of  commendation  and  encouragement,  and 
judiciously  employing  the  assistance  of  the  class  in 
every  criticism.  A  general  sentiment  in  favor  of  a 
correct  use  of  language  should  be  encouraged 
throughout  the  whole  schoc  1.  It  is  well  to  put  the 
defective  and  the  improved  expressions  in  contrast. 
For  a  time  these  contrasted  expressions  may  be 
kept  in  a  book  by  each  of  the  class.  They  should 
often  be  put  upon  the  blackboard. 

It  would  seem  that  the  use  intended  for  this  book 
is  plainly  enough  stated  by  the  author.  It  is  in¬ 
tended  simply  as  a  guide  in  the  hands  of  the  teacher 
and  his  pupils;  to  point  out  the  applications  of 
grammar,  in  the  practice  of  speaking  and  writing. 
Writing  is  to  enter  into  the  entire  school  work  ; 
the  pupils  to  "learn  to  use  paper  and  pen,  slate  and 
pencil  almost  as  readily  as  they  use  the  tongue.” 

Yet  this  book  was  gone  through  with,  and  worn 
out  by  a  boy  whose  class  was  kept  down  to  the 
drudgery  of  committing  the  book  to  memory,  with 
no  practice  whatever  in  writing,  and  with  no  applL 
cation  of  what  was  memorized  to  the  spoken  lan¬ 
guage  of  the  pupils,  in  or  about  the  school  room. 

And  notwithstanding  the  well-established  fact,  of 
which  I  have  spoken,  that  city  schools  are  far  in 
advance  of  country  schools  in  general  educational 
methods,  I  am  obliged  to  tell  you,  that  this  book 
was  worn  out  in  the  manner  in  which  I  have  ex¬ 
plained,  by  use  in  the  public  schools  of  one  of  the 
chief  cities  in  Kansas.  In  the  schools  of  that  city 
the  abstract,  memorizing,  analytical  method  of 
teaching  grammar  is  in  full  blast.  Four  years  of 
such  study  are  employed  in  the  course,  and  pupils 
come  out  of  it  with  no  more  practical  knowledge  of 
the  use  of  grammar,  with  no  better  habits  in  speech 
and  in  writing,  than  when  they  commenced  the 
study  ;  so  far  as  such  study  has  been  concerned. 

I  call  your  attention  to  one  other  remark  made 
by  the  author  of  this  book,  in  his  preface.  He 
says:  "It  is  believed  that  the  matter  contained  in 
this  little  volume  will  be  sufficient  for  the  majority 
of  pupils  who  take  only  the  common  English 
branches.” 

Yet,  the  pupils  in  the  schools  of  that  city,  in  the 
grades  below  the  high  school,  pursuing  nothing  but 
the  "common  English  branches",  are  put  through, 
not  only  this  book,  but  through  one  other  twice  as 
voluminous :  and  that  too,  by  the  same  memorizing 
method,  and  with  results  such  as  1  have  stated. 

If  such  criminal  waste  of  youthful  brain  force  is 
imposed  by  the  intelligent  school  board  and  Super¬ 
intendent,  upon  the  children  of  a  Kansas  city  of 
the  second  class,  how  much  more  may  we  expect 
to  find  defective  educational  methods  prevailing  in 
the  schools  of  the  rural  districts. 

Truly  we  may  say  in  the  language  of  our  brother 
of  the  Iowa  Western  Farm  Journal  "our  system  of 
education  is  too  much  confined  to  a  rut.” 

I  will  now  quote  some  authorities  on  this  subject. 

Says  the  Hon.  John  Montieth,  Supt.  Pub.  In¬ 
struction  of  the  State  of  Mo.:  "The  teaching  of 
grammar  should  have  a  better  substi'ute ;  the  pres¬ 
ent  system  fails  of  any  practical  result.” 

Says  Prof.  M.  A.  Newell,  principal  of  the  State 
Normal  School,  Baltimore:  "Among  modern 

writers  of  distinction,  not  one  in  a  hundred,  ever 


studied  English  grammar  as  such.  We  learn  to 
sing  by  singing,  and  to  draw  by  drawing,  and  in 
the  same  way,  we  must  be  taught  to  speak  and 
write  correctly:  by  speaking  and  writing.  Text 
books  in  grammar  should  be  abolished  in  all  grades 
below  the  high  school.” 

Says  Hon.  Edgerly,  Supt.  of  Public  Instruction, 
Manchester,  N.  H.. 

"How  vague  and  unsatisfactory  the  ideas  which 
our  pupils  gain  from  such  terms  as  auxiliary, 
antecedent,  correlative,  co-ordinate,  proposition, 
passive,  impersonal,  infinitive,  logical,  synopsis,  &c.” 
He  says  that  more  oral  instruction  should  be  given 
and  time  devoted  to  practical  exercises  in  compo¬ 
sition  and  conversation;  in  learning  to  "speak  and 
write  the  language  correctly.”  "Our  pupils  must 
be  taught  that  it  is  important  to  acquire  a  good  use 
of  language,  and  that  success  in  business  does  not 
depend  entirely  upon  mathematical  knowledge :  as 
often-times  young  men  fail  of  desirable  positions  on 
account  of  the  misuse  of  their  mother  tongue. 

The  practical  exercises  in  learning  the  correct  use 
of  language  should  commence  in  the  lower  grades, 
and  no  pupil  should  be  led  to  suppose  he  has  mas¬ 
tered  the  subject  because  he  can.  repeat  rules  like 
the  following:  "A  noun  or  pronoun  used  for  expla¬ 
nation  or  emphasis,  by  being  predicated  of  another, 
or  put  in  apposition  with  another,  must  be  ia  the 
same  case,”  The  system  is  wrong  and  should  be 
corrected." 

Says  Col.  D.  F.  DeWolf,  Supt.  Pub.  Instruction, 
Sandusky,  Ohio,  one  of  the  best  educators  in  the 
country  : 

"Let  me  also  say,  what  I  find  cannot  be  too 
often  reiterated,  that  writing  much  in  school  exer¬ 
cises,  if  carefuily  done,  affords  a  n.ost  excellent 
means  of  fixing  in  the  mind  a  systematic  knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  subject,  and  is  the  only  means  of  learn¬ 
ing  to  construct  English  sentences,  to  capitalize  and 
punctuate,  and  also  to  spell.  In  all  German  schools 
much  more  use  is  made  of  the  pen  than  in  America, 
The  good  results  are  manifest  in  many  directions.” 

The  following  is  the  Plan  of  instruction  in  the 
Cincinnati  Public  Schools :  I  quote  from  a  report : 

"A  distinguishing  trait  of  the  Cincinnati  schools  is 
the  prominence  that  language  culture  occupies  in 
their  course  of  study.  In  arranging  this  course, 
the  truth  lias  been  prominently  borne  in  mind  that 
correct  expression  is  not  only  valuable  in  itself,  but 
has  a  powerful  reflex  influence  in  promoting  cor¬ 
rect  thinking. 

"Having  long  felt  that  technical  grammar,  as 
usually  taught,  is  of  little  practical  value,  the  com¬ 
mittee  on  course  of  study  set  to  work  resolutely, 
some  three  or  four  years  ago,  to  bring  about  an 
entire  revolution  in  the  method  of  teaching  gram¬ 
mar.  Instead  of  reserving  grammar  as  a  study  for 
the  highest  grades,  a  course  was  constructed,  tc  be¬ 
gin  with  the  child's  first  day  in  school,  and  keep 
him  company  through  every  grade  until  he  reaches 
the  high  school,  where  it  is  expected  that  rhetoric 
and  a  critical  study  of  some  of  the  best  English  clas¬ 
sics  will  finish  the  solid  and  symmetrical  structure. 

The  teacher  is  not  to  aim  at  a  recitation  of  gram¬ 
matical  rules  and  definitions,  but  at  a  ready  and 
correct  <?f  the  language  itself,  tlie  latter  alone 


11 


having  a  real  and  practical  value  in  the  future  ca¬ 
reer  of  the  scholar.  To  this  end  mere  technical¬ 
ities  are  to  be  avoided  as  far  as  practicable,  but 
when  used  to  be  thoroughly  explained  in  terms  to 
be  readily  comprehended  by  children.  All  text¬ 
books  are  excluded  from  the  district  schools,  and  an 
elaborate  syllabus  was  prepared  for  the  use  of 
teachers.  This  plan  has  been  thoroughly  tried,  and 
its  success  has  been  all  that  could  have  been  ex¬ 
pected.  The  knowledge  gained  by  pupils  through 
its  workings  has  been  no  heap  of  “dry  grammat¬ 
ical  compost,”  but  a  knowledge  which  has  rendered 
them  more  familiar*  with  the  use  of  language  in  a 
practical  way,  and  which  is  also  leading  them 
gradually  up  10  an  appreciation  of  the  beauty  and 
power  of  the  highest  expression  of  thought. 

In  the  primary  schools,  object-lessons  form  the 
basis  of  language-lessons,  the  child  acquiring  the 
habit  of  ready  and  correct  expression  as  he  ac¬ 
quires  the  habit  of  observation.” 

Dr.  Edward  Jarvis  of  Dorchester,  Mass.,  con¬ 
tributed  the  following  to  the  Report  of  the  U.  S. 
Commissioner  of  Education,  for  182 : 

A  sagacious  teacher  of  a  country-school  required 
each  child  to  make  or  write  something  on  a  slate 
every  day — a  mark,  a  letter,  a  word,  sentence,  or  a 
composition,  according  to  his  or  her  capacity. 
One  morning  a  girl  of  ten  years  wrote  a  history  of 
her  journey  from  her  home  to  the  school-house. 
She  wrote  this  as  rapidly  as  her  pencil  could  form 
the  words,  for  her  mind  was  filled  with  the  things 
which  she  had  noticed  on  the  way,  and  the  reflec¬ 
tions  and  emotions  that  they  had  excited.  The 
journey  was  full  of  interest,  and  observation  of  the 
people,  cattle,  dogs,  birds,  insects,  fields,  corn,  rye, 
flowers,  wagons,  &c.,  that  she  had  passed  in  the 
few  minutes’  walk  from  her  home. 

She  said,  coming  by  the  grist-mill,  she  noticed 
the  pond,  which  was  full  the  day  before,  was 
now  empty,  although  a  plenty  of  water  was 
running  through  the  channel,  and  through  a  sluice¬ 
gate  in  the  dam.  She  concluded  that  it  was  drawn 
down  by  design.  Seeing  men  at  work  with  axes, 
saws  and  hammers  under  the  mill,  she  inferred  that 
they  were  repairing  the  water-wheel.  Soon  after 
she  met  a  farmer  going  toward  the  mill  with  some 
large  bags,  well  filled,  in  his  wagon.  She  then 
thought  that  he  was  carrying  grain  to  the  mill  to 
be  ground,  and  felt  a  pity  for  him,  as  he  would  be 
disappointed,  for  that  day,  at  least.  She  carried 
her  sympathy  to  the  farmer’s  home,  and  hoped  that 
he  had  not,  waited  until  they  were  out  of  meal,  and 
that  the  family  would  not  have  to  wait  for  bread 
until  the  water-wheel  should  be  repaired.  Passing 
a  house,  she  saw  bundles  of  shingles  in  the  yard, 
and  a  ladder  raised  to  the  eaves;  she  concluded 
that  the  roof  was  to  be  shingled,  and,  soon  meeting 
a  man  with  a  hatchet  in  one  hand,  and  a  box  of 
tools  in  the  other,  she  supposed  he  was  the  car¬ 
penter  going  to  do  this  work  on  that  house. 

Seeing  a  hen  in  a  farmer’s  yard  with  only  five 
chickens,  she  remembered  that  she  had  seen  six  the 
day  before,  and  suspected  that  the  fox,  skunk,  or 
other  wild  animal  that  was  supposed  to  have  de¬ 
stroyed  some  of  her  father’s  and  other  neighbors’ 
chickens,  had  been  at  work  here  also,  and  was  still 


too  cunning  to  be  caught  in  the  traps  that  had  been 
set  for  it.  Seeing  a  robin  fluttering  about  a  tree, 
manifesting  by  her  manner  and  her  cries  great  dis¬ 
tress,  she  looked  under  the  tree  and  saw  a  cat  look¬ 
ing  very  intently  upward ;  she  inferred  that  the 
bird  had  a  nest  with  her  young  there,  and  was  fearful 
that  the  cat  had  a  design  to  destroy  them. 

With  these  and  other  observations  and  reflec¬ 
tions  on  the  things  and  events  which  she  had  seen 
on  the  way,  she  filled  two  sides  of  a  large  slate. 
She  was  an  observer  and  a  reasoner.  Her  mind 
and  its  elements  had  been  quickened  into  life,  and 
had  found  a  plenty  of  occupation  in  this  simple 
way.  But  another,  with  more  torpid  reasoning  and 
duller  perceptions,  might  have  passed  over  the 
same  road  at  the  same  time  and  seen  little  or  noth¬ 
ing.  With  few  or  no  facts,  and  no  conclusions,  the 
whole  history  of  the  journey  would  be  that  she 
walked  from  home  to  the  school. 

Boys  and  girls  who  are  thus  educated  and  train¬ 
ed  to  observe  and  reflect  by  the  studies  of  the 
school  carry  their  power  and  habit  of  mental  action 
with  them  wherever  they  go.  In  the  sports  of 
childhood  and  youth,  in  the  various  employments 
of  maturer  life,  whether  they  are  laborers,  farmers, 
mechanics,  or  workers  in  any  other  sphere,  what¬ 
ever  may  be  the  material  on  which  they  may  oper¬ 
ate,  whatever  may  be  the  changes  they  may  desire 
to  effect,  or  results  they  may  attempt  to  produce, 
they  enlist  the  co-operation  of  their  sharpened  per¬ 
ceptions  and  disciplined  reason  in  the  plan  and 
performance  of  their  undertakings.” 

The  following  is  from  Hon.  C.  W.  Van  Coelln, 
Supt.  Public  Instruction  of  Iowa,  in  reply  to  our 
inquiries  :  “English  Language  should  be  studied  as 
soon  as  the  child  commences  to  speak,  and  it  is 
learned  in  a  certain  sense.  When  the  child  begins 
to  go  to  school,  all  wrong  expressions  and  forms 
should  be  corrected,  not  by  giving  reasons  or  rule 
for  such  correction,  but  by  simply  insisting  on  the 
correction.  This  should  extend  to  the  play-ground, 
and,  if  possible,  to  the  home.  Written  language 
should  be  moie  largely  cultivated  in  our  schools, 
This  would  involve  a  great  reform  in  our  old  sys¬ 
tem  of  teaching  spelling.” 

J.  M.  McKenzie,  State  Supt.  of  Public  Instruction 
Nebraska,  says  :  “I  cannot  here  elaborate  in 
detail  a  plan  that  seems  to  me  natural,  rational, 
and  pleasing,  as  that  would  consume  too  much 
time  and  perhaps  not  give  what  is  desired,  but  I 
may  say  in  a  word  that  I  am  heart-sick  with  the 
unnatural  and  inverted  methods  generally  pursued 
in  the  study  of  language,  from  first  to  last. 

There  is  no  other  study  on  which  we  spend  so 
much  time  with  such  poor  results.  Grammar  as 
taught,  and  as  set  forth  in  our  text-books,  should 
have  no  place  in  our  common  schools ;  it  is  worse 
than  a  waste  of  time,  as  generally  studied  ;  as  the 
student  is  led  to  think  himself  a  good  grammarian 
while  in  fact  he  is  a  miserable  botch  in  the  right  use 
of  language.” 

Says  Hon.  Wm.  F.  Phelps,  President  of  National 
Educational  Association:  “That  the  study  of  Eng¬ 
lish  grammar  is  irrationally  and  comparatively 
speaking,  unprofitably  pursued,  all  must  admit. 

What  we  need  is  less  grammar,  and  more  language; 


university  of  lumois 


12 


less  rules,  definitions  and  analysis,  and  more  ex¬ 
pression  at  the  end  of  the  tongue  and  the  end  of  the 
pen.  The  art  of  expression  should  be  begun  and 
continued,  but  not  ended,  with  the  first,  and  every 
succeeding  lesson  upon  every  subject  taught  at  school. 
Every  lesson  upon  every  subject  should  be,  and  un¬ 
der  proper  teaching  will  be,  a  language  lesson,  and 
as  such  will  aid  to  develop  expression;  a  leading  aim 
of  all  true  teaching.” 

Says  Prof.  H.  D.  McCarty,  late  State  Supt.  of  j 
Public  Instruction  fur  Kansas:  “Grammar  should 
be  taught  orally  (using  slate  and  blackboard)  for 
one  or  more  terms  before  taking  the  text-book  in 
technical  grammar,  which  should  be  confined  to 
some  primary  work.  I  say  technical  grammar,  for 
I  would  have  practical  grammar  taught  at  every  step 
of  the  pupil’s  progress,  from  the  time  he  first  enters 
school,  till  he  leaves  it  altogether.  I  would  make 
every  exercise  an  exercise  in  speaking  and  writing 
the  English  Language  correctly.” 

Says  Mrs.  H.  A.  Monroe,  Principal  of  the  Atch¬ 
ison,  Kansas  Institute,  and  an  experienced  examiner 
of  teachers :  “Your  letter  received  some  time  since 
requested  me  to  give  some  of  my  experiencies  in 
the  deficiences  of  those  presenting  themselves  to  me 
for  examination  as  teachers  or  students.  I  find  the 
greatest  lack  in  spelling,  penmanship  and  language. 

The  old  fashion  of  teaching  spelling  without 
meanings,  although  far  from  the  best  way,  is  better 
than  not  teaching  it  at  all.  We  have  no  use  for 
words  whose  meanings  we  do  not  know  after  we 
leave  school,  therefore,  no  student  under  sixteen,  or 
over  six  should  fail  to,  learn  less  than  five  new  words 
with  their  meanings  and  to  make  sentences  giving 
the  correct  use  of  each,  every  day  he  is  in  attend¬ 
ance  in  the  public  school. 

Not  one  tn  ten  of  those  who  graduate  from  the 
public  schools  can  make  a  correct  manuscript. 

1  he  art  of  composing  is  almost  totally  neglected. 

Few  thoughts  are  available  in  business  life  that 
cannot  be  clearly  stated  in  writing,  and  no  man  can 
excel  in  the  professions  who  cannot  readily  express 
himself  in  writing;  indeed.  I  doubt  if  any  one  ever 
becomes  a  good  thinker  without  much  composing. 

Geography  is  entirely  too  much  taught. 

I  would  recommend,  that  in  the  Institutes  held  by 
County  Superintendents  it  be  ascertained  that  each 
teacher  can  express  his  thoughts  in  writings  legibly, 
correctly  and  fluentl . ,  and  then  in  turn  he  be  re¬ 
quired  to  give  his  students  daily  exercise  in  com¬ 
posing,  beginning  with  the  most  simple  exercise, 
and  carried  forward  until  it  include  business  and 
friendship  letters,  notes  of  invtation,  acceptance  and 
refusal :  In  fact,  every  kind  of  writing  that  ordinarily 
enters  into  daily  life. 

Much  general  information  may  be  permanently 
impressed  on  the  minds  of  older  students  by  a  judi¬ 
cious  selection  of  subjects,  for  essays. 

Take  such  subjects  as  Etiquette,  Harmony  of 
Colors,  Early  History  of  Kansas,  Mineral  resources 
of  Kansas,  &c.,  put  an  analysis  of  the  subject  on 
the  blackboard,  and  appoint  a  student  to  read  up 
and  discuss  each  division  of  the  subject  before  the 
school  every  morning  for  a  week,  also  call  on  others 
beside  the  appointees  for  any  information  they  may 
have,  and  then  require  each  student  to  present  the 


entire  theme  in  writing,  and  I  can  scarcely  see  how 
a  teacher  can  fail  to  produce  enthusiasm  in  the 
preparation  of  essays.  On  the  last  two  subjects 
students  will  work  hard  for  several  weeks,  and  then 
feel  that  the  time  is  too  short.  After  the  essays 
have  been  corrected  by  the  teacher  they  should  be 
carefully  copied  into  a  book  kept  for  that  purpose. 

We  find  great  need  of  an  elementary  geology 
suited  for  Kansas. 

I  would  say  in  conclusion,  that  we,  the  teachers  of 
Kansas,  are  doing  our  best  to  make  our  work  prac¬ 
tical,  to  teach  for  life,  and  not  for  the  day.  and  if  you 
can  offer  us  any  suggestion!  that  are  available, 
they  will  be  gratefully  received. 

Mrs.  Olive  E.  Stout,  Supt.  of  Jackson  County 
says:  “My  observation  would  lead  me  to  say  that 
pupils  begin  the  study  of  Grammar  at  the  average 
j  a  je  of  ten  years,  and  continue  it  while  they  attend 
|  school.  But  the  grammars  which  are  used  are  not 
j  adapted  to  the  common  schools,  and  the  consequence 
j  is,  the  pupils  leave  school  unable  to  speak  cor¬ 
rectly  or  write  intelligently.” 

Says  Prof.  B.  F.  Mudge:  “Memorizing  definitions 
and  rules  is  to  be  avoided  as  much  as  possible.  But 
the  great  obstacle  to  a  reform,  in  this  respect,  is 
found  in  the  want  of  qualification  in  teachers.  The 
I  small  salaries  are  not  sufficient  to  induce  young  men 
j  and  women  to  go  to  a  Normal  School  and  take  a 
I  thorough  training  for  teachers,  And  until  that  is 
j  done  we  must  expect  them  to  lean  much  on  the  book. 

“This  is  more  particularly  seen  in  teaching  Eng¬ 
lish  grammar.  In  that  branch,  more  than  any  other, 

|  much  time  is  spent  on  formal  rules  and  definitions. 

“No  branch  in  our  schools  is  taught  more  imper¬ 
fectly,  yet  if  commenced  in  the  right  manner,  none 
I  can  be  taught  more  easily.  If  the  teacher 
|  would  begin  with  the  child,  as  soon  as  it  is  able  to 
write  simple  words  on  the  slate,  written  exercises 
would  be  easy.  Every  child  that  can  write  half  a 
dozen  words  in  sucsession,  should  I  e.  required  to 
have  a  regular  written  exercise.  If  nothingmore.it 
should  be  in  the  shape  of  a  written  request  to  be  dis¬ 
missed,  half  an  hour  before  any  of  the  other  scholars. 
This  will  call  f  >r  correct  grammar,  including  the  use 
of  capitals,  punctuation  and  spelling.  Every  county 
superintendent  should  see  that  some  such  simple 
exercises  are  practiced.  Then  grammar  will  take 
care  of  itself.” 

Says  Prof.  M.  M.  Campbell,  of  the  Indiana  State 
University:  “Many  a  man  who  has  never  committed 
a  word  nor  tried  to  learn  a  lesson  in  technical  gram¬ 
mar,  has  nevertheless  by  a  large  acquaintance  with 
good  authors  and  by  intercourse  with  good  society, 
acquired  both  a  wide  range  of  thought,  and,  through 
insensible  imitation,  an  almost  universally  correct 
mode  of  expressing  his  thoughts.  He  can  give  you 
no  rules  or  reason  for  his  modes  of  expression.  And 
yet  they  are  grammatical,  forcibly  clear,  and  often 
elegant.  Now,  such  a  man  is  far  better  educated  in 
practical  grammar,  though  he  is  himself  insensible  of 
it,  and  would  probably  deny  it,  than  is  the  rude  peda¬ 
gogue  who  has  memorized  the  whole  etymology  of 
grammar,  and  can  repeat  by  rote  every  rule  of  its 
syntax,  but  who,  in  speaking  always  violates  these, 
rules  except  when,  like  a  parrot,  he  is  merely  re¬ 
peating  the  thoughts  and  language  of  some  one 


13 


else.  And  such  pedagogues  we  have  here,  in  rich(? 
abundance.” 

W.  Sec.,  C.  C.  Post,  of  Indiana  State  Grange, 
says:  “The  remedy  would  seem  to  be  in  employing 
only  teachers  who  make  use  of  their  knowledge  in 
their  every  expression  and  in  assisting  their  pupils  to 
do  so ;  not  by  teaching  to  memorize  rules,  but  by 
correcting  ungrammatical  expressions,  whenever 
and  wherever  they  observe  them  in  those  they  are 
employed  to  teach.  I  believe  that  this  alone  would 
be  better  than  the  present  mode  of  teaching  gram¬ 
mar  to  those  who  are  never  to  teach  it  to  others 
again.” 

Says  Prof.  G.  S.  Albee,  President  of  the  State 
Normal  School,  Oshkosh,  Wisconsin  ;  “  My  views 
regarding  English  grammar  are  that  it  would  be 
better  taught  without  a  text-book.  In  its  very  na¬ 
ture  there  is  evidence  that  the  pupil  should  be  led  to 
examine  it  in  a  mode  like  unto  its  use .  Language 
should  be  taught  in  every  branch  ;  every  recitation 
by  vigilant  regard  to  correctness,  clearness,  and  di¬ 
rectness  in  statement.  This  strict  regard  for  good 
language  in  all  work  will  not  answer  in  lieu  of  a  for¬ 
mal  study  of  grammar,  but  the  study  of  grammar  will 
have  a  more  direct  bearing  upon  the  pupils  practice 
if  the  teacher  is  the  text-book.  Discard  the  “solemn 
style”  entirely  in  the  common  school  course;  take 
every  day  language  or  selections  from  any  reader, 
and  give  abundant  practice.  I  do  not  think  the 
“time  spent  is  greater  than  it  should  be,”  but  that 
the  results  are  altogether  less  than  they  should  be, 
because  of  senseless  memorizing  of  words  which 
have  no  application  in  the  pupils  mind.” 

Says  G.  Sprague,  Esq.,  editor  of  the  Iowa  Home¬ 
stead  and  Western  Farm  Journal ;  "This  journal 
recently  offered  a  prize  for  the  best  correction  of  a 
purposely  incorrectly  written  story,  which  was  pub¬ 
lished  as  written,  in  a  recent  issue.  Up  to  this  time 
fifty  answers  are  on  file,  accompanied  by  as  many 
efforts  to  correct  the  errors,  these  being  from  young 
people  of  both  sexes,  from  the  ages  of  eleven  to 
eighteen  years:  possibly  some  applicants  are  older 
than  stated.  Thus  far,  we  find  but  one,  out  of  the 
fifty  efforts  made,  absolutely  correct,  one  other  is 
nearly  so.  Forty  out  of  the  fifty  are  loaded  down  with 
errors.  These  answers  are  supposed  to  be  from 
young  people  who  pride  themselves  upon  their  attain¬ 
ments,  and  are  from  Iowa,  Illinois,  Wisconsin, 
Michigan,  Indiana,  Missouri  and  Kansas.” 

Does  not  the  array  of  testimony  here  presented, 
conclusively  establishes  the  charge  that  a  good-for- 
nothing  sysiem  of  teaching  English  grammar  pre¬ 
vails  in  most  of  the  schools  of  the  country.  One 
other  bit  of  testimony  may  be  read  conclusive  of  the 
fact  that  the  teachers  themselves  make  no  better 
application  of  the  rules  of  grammar,  in  habitual 
use  than  do  the  pupils  whom  they  educate.  I  read 
from  the  New  England  Journal  of  Education,  pub¬ 
lished  in  Boston.  There  is  no  better  authority 
among  Educational  Journals  in  the  country.  I 
read,  of  date  April  20th  last,  an  editorial  paragraph 
headed,  “Writing  Letters;” 

“Nearly  all  letters  received  at  our  office  are  writ¬ 
ten  by  teachers.  One  would  suppose  that  by  going 


through  a  file  of  our  letters  for  a  month,  that  there 
would  be  found  a  collection  which  would  excel  in 
penmanship,  composition,  spelling,  punctuation, 
and  general  appearance  of  neatness,  any  collection 
to  be  found  in  any  business  house  in  the  country. 
We  doubt  if  any  one  who  preserves  letters  to  the 
number  of  500,  from  as  many  correspondents, 
would  have  a  collection  more  inferior  than  one  of 
our  files  for  a  month.  On  an  average,  one  letter  in 
ten  received  at  our  office  has  no  name  of  the  State 
given.  As  to  penmanship  and  composition,  many 
of  the  letters  would  be  a  disgrace  to  a  child  of  ten 
years.  These  may  seem  too  hard  expressions  to  use 
about  letters  of  teachers.  We  consider  it  such  a 
disgrace  to  any  teacher  not  to  know  how  to  prop¬ 
erly  write  a  letter  and  superscribe  it,  that  we  feel  that 
we  ought  to  speak  plainly.” 

A  member  of  a  Kansas  board  of  examiners,  one 
of  the  best  educators  in  the  State,  told  us  of  an  in¬ 
cident  occurring  in  an  examination,  conducted  by 
him,  of  a  company  of  sixty  applicants  for  teachers 
certificates,  a  large  proportion  of  them  teachers  long 
in  the  seryice.  He  asked  them  to  prepare  a  news 
paragraph  for  the  press.  .  He  gave  them,  briefly, 
the  outlines  of  a  murder,  supposed  to  have  taken 
place,  and  directed  an  account  of  the  affair  to  be 
written  out  for  the  local  newspaper.  But  two  or 
three  of  the  whole  number  of  sixty  teachers, prepared 
the  item  in  such  a  manner  as  that  it  would  be  fit  for 
publication.  In  nearly  all  cases  the  editor  would 
have  been  obliged  to  re-write  the  article  before  put¬ 
ting  it  into  the  hands  of  the  compositor. 

Yet  these  teachers  had  memorized  their  grammars 
through  and  through.  The  editors  who  are  obliged 
to  rewrite  such  paragraphs,  not  one  half  of  them  ever 
looked  inside  of  a  book  of  grammar.  They 
have  learned  to  write  correct  English  by 
practice  in  writing, — the  only  way  in  which  any 
body  ever  did  learn  to  write  crrectly.  We  speak  from 
long  experience  and  association  with  editors  of 
newspapers  when  we  express  the  opinion  that  not  one 
half  the  writers  for  the  press  in  Kansas,  ever  studied 
grammar  at  all,  and  not  one  fourth  part  of  these  who 
did  study  it  in  their  school  days,  derived  any  profit 
from  such  study. 

We  have  no  prejudices  on  this  subject,  we  have 
memorized  grammar,  and  taught  it  very  much  accor¬ 
ding  to  the  method  wenow  so  emphatically  condemn, 
we  have  learned  from  observation  and  experience  in 
the  school  of  life  of  the  vexation  and  the  utter  waste 
of  precious  time  and  of  the  precious  brain  force  of 
the  children  of  this  land  in  this  study  as  it  is  now 
carried  on.  It  is  an  incubus  upon  our  school  sys¬ 
tem,  which  should  be  thrown  off  and  utterly  ban¬ 
ished. 

RECAPITULATION. 

It  will  be  observed  in  what  has  been  presented, 
that  the  testimony  introduced,  with  great  unanimity 
points  to  improvements  in  methods  of  instruction,  in 
Arithmetic,  Geography,  and  English  Grammar,  such 
as  may  be  stated  as  follows : 

In  Arithmetic  it  is  proposed  to  abandon  the  mem¬ 
orizing  of  those  numerous  definitions,  rules,  and 
principles,  so-called,  which  are  valueless  in  the  ap¬ 
plications  of  numbers  ;  and  are  never  thought  of  in 


14 


t 


such  applications.  Instead  of  such  memorizing, 
practice  is  to  be  substituted; — practice,  so  thor¬ 
ough  that  high  attainments  shall  be  made  as  regards 
rapidity  and  accuracy  in  all  the  computations  enter¬ 
ing  into  ordinary  affairs  of  business.  Practice,  till 
habit  shall  obviate  all  necessity  for  rule. 

Beyond  those  simple  operations  which  enter  into 
the  keeping  of  common  accounts,  the  computations 
in  interest,  the  making  of  ordinary  estimates,  etc.,  all 
else  shall  be  left  to  professionals  in  numbers. 

In  Geography,  it  is  proposed  to  have  our  children 
taught  to  map  their  own  school  district  their  town¬ 
ship,  county,  State  and  country ;  enough  of  this  to 
fix  in  their  minds  clearly  defined  descriptions  of  such 
local  geographical  divisions  ;  so  as  to  bring  intelli¬ 
gence  to  their  newspaper  and  other  reading ;  an  en¬ 
lightened  sense  of  Jthe  situations  of  localities  in  which 
current  events  of  their  own  country  occur.  Besides 
this  much. of  local  geography,  just  enough  of  the 
mapping  and  study  of  foreign  countries,  as  to  enable 
the  pupil  to  refer  to  his  maps  to  find  the  localities  of 
all  impoitant  events,  the  subjects  of  reading  and 
conversations,  and,  generally,  such  a  handling  of 
the  subject  .  as  to  habituate  the  pupil  to  the  use  of 
a  book  of  maps,  which  he  should  be  taught  that  he 
must  take  with  him  from  school  as  a  life  companion. 

In  Engljsh  Grammar,  it  is  proposed  to  abandon 
the  whole  memorizing  and  analytical  business,  and, 
by  actual  practice  and  training  in  correct  speaking, 
and  writing,  to  habituate  pupils  in  the  expression  of 
their  thoughts  in  the  English  language,  according  to 
good  usage. 

Children  learn  to  speak  the  English  language  from 
their  mothers,  Intelligent  mothers  teach  their  chil¬ 
dren  to  speak  correctly,  by  pointing  out  right  usage 
and  pruning  out  vulgarisms.  Transferred  to  the 
school-room  the  teacher  should,  and  in  the  new  ed¬ 
ucation  will  aid  such  intsruction  in  the  same  man¬ 
ner  and  carry  language  study  forward  by  pointing 
out  whatever  of  grammatical  rule  comes  within  the 
comprehension  of  the  pupil,  and  is  applicable  to  the 
practice  exercises  of  the  school-room,  and  to  .he  cor¬ 
rection  of  all  errors  in  language  heard,  or  written  in 
or  about  the  school-room.  Thus  those  children 
who  do  not  acquire  correct  speech  at  home  will  fall 
in  with  the  current  of  correct  speaking  at  school  and 
all  will  receive  alike  that  culture  in  speech  which 
alone  comes  from  association  with  those  whose  aim 
is,  in  language  as  in  all  things  else,  to  imitate  and 
conform  to  the  usages  of  good  society. 

The  practice  of  writing  should  enter  largely  into 
the  school  work  ;  in  the  study  of  orthography,  read¬ 
ing,  geography,  arithmetic,  as  a  means  of  engaging 
attentien,  and  of  inducing  actual  and  systematic  in¬ 
dustry  in  the  preparation  of  lessons,  and  at  the  same 
time  of  bringing  pupils  into  a  ready  skill  in  the  use 
of  the  pen  and  pencil,  and  in  the  execution  of  varied 
forms  of  written  composition.  Writing  should  con¬ 
tinue  to  be  practiced,  among  advanced  pupils,  till  an 
ability  shall  be  acquired  to  write  letters,  of  friendship 
and  business,  correctly  and  neatly,  and  to  execute 
with  readiness  and  propriety  all  forms  of  written 
composition  which  enter  into  the  discharge  of  the 
ordinary  duties  of  life  and  of  citizenship.  This  and 
this  alone  is  the  character  of  instruction  in  English 
grammar,  suited  to  common  school  education. 


THE  NEW  STUDIES. 

Now  it  must  be  obvious  to  all,  that  the  proposed 
new  system,  is  in  a  leading  respect  a  cutting  down 
system.  It  will,  not  oniy  relieve  the  pupils  of  an 
infinite  ameunt  of  valueless  drudgery,  and  give  thor¬ 
oughness  in  practical  arithmetic  and  geography,  but 
it  will  make  good  spellers,  good  readers,  good  wri¬ 
ters,  and  correct  speakers;  and  at  the  same  time  will 
so  cut  down  and  shorten  the  entire  school  work  in 
these  studies  as  to  give  room  for  other  branches  of 
study,  such  as  have  relation  to  the  occupations  of 
agriculture  and  other  industrial  pursuits. 

And  I  now  come  to  present  to  you  the  testimony 
of  the  best  thinkers  and  best  teachers  of  the  country 
who  have  considered  the  subject  and  have  had  expe¬ 
rience  in  such  instruction,  going  to  show  that  in 
these  common  schools  a  very  considerable  measure 
of  instruction  may  bg  imparted  in  the  elemeuts  of 
the  natural  sciences,  without  in  the  least  lessening  the 
progress  of  pupils  in  the  time  honored  and  always 
needful  branches  of  education,  but  rather  increasing 
the  interest  and  progress  in  all  such  studies  and  giv¬ 
ing  additional  life  and  zest  to  the  whole  school 
work. 

Under  such  instruction,  farmer’s  children  will  be 
taught  something  concerning  the  nature  and  com¬ 
position  of  the  soil  which  they  are  to  till,  and  of  its 
adaptation  to  the  growing  of  this  food  plant  or  that. 
They  will  be  taught  something  of  the  formation  of 
the '  rocks  with  which  they  build,  and  of  the  great 
system  of  rocks  with  which  God  has  constructed  the 
basis  upon  which  the  soil  rests :  systems  too,  which, 
through  the  disintegration,  pnlverization  and  com- 
menutives  brought  about  by  the  various  changes 
which  the  forces  of  nature  have  wrought  upon 
their  substance,  have  contributed  to,  and  in 
a  great  measure  make  up,  the  composition 
of  the  soil  itself.  The  farmers’  children 
will  have  unfolded  to  them  the  subtle  laws 
by  which  the  plants  they  are  to  cultivate  draw  their 
sustenance  from  the  mineral  kingdom,  and  create 
the  food  upon  which  man  and  animals  live.  They 
will  be  taught,  and  led  te  love  to  investigate  Nature’s 
works  around  them.  God  himself  has  implanted  a 
love  of  investigation  in  the  natural  mind.  It  is  be¬ 
cause  their  teachers,  and  we,  their  parents,  are 
ignorant  of  the  way  to  direct  their  youthful  search¬ 
ings  after  Nature’s  teachings  that  our  children  do 
not  grow  up  in  continued  research,  and  become 
very  masters  of  the  sciences  connected  with  agri¬ 
culture  ;  the  materials  for  the  study  of  which  are 
everywhere  spread  out  before  them  from  their  ear¬ 
liest  existence. 

I  present  the  following  testimony  on  this  sub¬ 
ject: 

In  1871,  the  State  of  Illinois  introduced  the 
study  of  the  natural  sciences  as  branches  of  in¬ 
struction  in  the  common  schools  of  the  State. 
In  his  Annual  Report  for  1872,  Hon.  Newton 
Bateman,  State Supt. of  Public  Instruction  referred 
to  this  subject  as  follows: 

THE  NATURAL  SCIENCES. 

State  Superintendent  Bateman,  of  Illinois,  in  his 
report  for  1872,  says: 

“The  law  making  the  study  of  natural  science  a 


15 


condition  of  licensure  produced  a  great  awakening 
in  the  host  of  torpid  and  lethargic  teachers.  The 
common-school  elements  of  society,  so  to  speak, 
were  profoundly  stirred  everywhere,  and  a  free- 
school  revival,  of  extraordinary  extent  and  power, 
was  inaugurated.  From  the  time  the  new  law  was 
promulgated  in  April  last  till  the  schools  opened  in 
the  autumn  the  whole  State  became,  as  it  were,  one 
great  camp  of  instruction.  Special  institutes  were 
convened  for  the  purpose,  and  the  annual  session  of 
the  State  Teachers’  Institute  was  chiefly  devoted  to 
the  same  work. 

These  new  studies  are  in  harmony  with  the  in¬ 
stincts  and  tastes  of  children,  and  awaken  their  in¬ 
terest.  In  declaring  that  the  elements  of  the  natu¬ 
ral  sciences  shall  be  taught  in  the  public  schools,  the 
legislature  has  recognized,  and  sought  to  utilize,  the 
fact  that  the  senses  are  the  pioneers  of  all  knowl¬ 
edge,  and  that  their  cultivation  and  training  should 
be  made,  for  several  years,  the  chief  work  of  educa¬ 
tion.  The  value  of  a  habit  of  quick,  sharp  obser¬ 
vation;  the  extent  and  certainty  of  development  by 
proper  training  in  early  youth;  the  impossibility  of 
fully  securing  it  in  after  life,  and  the  mariifold  bene¬ 
fits  and  pleasures  accruing  all  through  life  from  its 
exercise,  are  among  the  forcible  arguments  in  favor 
of  the  method  of  primary  training  which,  it  is  hoped 
and  believed,  will  be  introduced  into  our  schools  in 
connection  with  the  natural  sciences.” 

In  1874,  two  years  after  the  law  went  into  opera¬ 
tion  in  Illinois,  the  State  Superintendent  called  on 
the  County  Superintendents  to  state  in  their  reports 
for  that  year  their  observations  as  to  the  workings  of 
the  new  studies.  Of  the  fiftyseight  County  Super¬ 
intendents  reporting,  forty-seven  responded  favor¬ 
ably,  in  most  cases  giving  very  decided  expression 
as  to  the  good  results.  The  following  from  the  re¬ 
port  of  the  Superintendent  of  Grundy  county  is  an 
example: 

“I  have  no  doubt  of  the  beneficial  effects  of  the 
law  requiring  these  branches.  Teachers  are  stimu¬ 
lated  to  a  higher  effort  and  a  more  thorough  prep¬ 
aration.  As  the  “new  branches”  must  be  taught, 
chiefly  orally,  and  in  the  most  elementary  way,  for 
the  present,  the  work  of  the  school  room  requires 
more  study  and  greater  activity  on  the  part  of  in¬ 
structors;  the  minds  of  the  pupils  are  aroused  and 
excited  to  intenser  diligence,  the  time  is  better  occu¬ 
pied,  discipline  is  more  easily  maintained,  better 
work  is  reached  in  the  common  branches,  besides 
the  elementary  knowledge  obtained  of  the  natural 
sciences.  The  schools  assume  a  healthier  condi¬ 
tion.” 

Says  Hon.  Thos.  W.  Harvey,  State  Superintend-3 
ent  of  Public  Instruction  of  Ohio,  in  his  annual 
report  for  1873: 

“The  authors  of  our  public  school  system  un¬ 
doubtedly  thought  that  our  schools  ought  to  furnish 
such  an  education  as  would  enable  the  youth  of  the 
country  to  act  intelligently  as  citizens,  to  fill  places 
of  trust  and  responsibility,  and  to  transact  the  ordi¬ 
nary  business  of  life  readily  and  accurately.  From 
the  fact  that  they  made  adequate  provision  for  the 
establishment  and  maintenance  of  schools  of  a 
higher  grade  than  the  common  or  primary  school,  it 
is  inferred  that  they  fully  appreciated  the  value  and 


importance  of  liberal  culture,  and  that  they  consid¬ 
ered  the  encouragement  and  support  of  all  practica¬ 
ble  schemes  tor  the  dissemination  of  knowledge 
among  the  people  a  proper  function  of  government. 

“A  practical  knowledge  of  the  so-called  common 
branches  can  be  obtained  by  the  average  pupil  be¬ 
fore  he  ought  to  be  removed  from  school  and  its 
restraining  influences.  Hence,  in  our  best  schools 
some  provision  is  made  for  instruction  in  other 
branches.  Oral  lessons  in  botany,  chemistry,  phys¬ 
ics,  &c.,  are  now  given  in  the  lower  departments  of 
most  of  our  graded  schools.  Being  continued 
through  successive  years,  they  afford  opportunity 
for  teaching  many  things  of  great  practical  value  to 
the  farmer,  mechanic  and  business  man,  of  which 
pupils  unable  to  complete  a  high  school  course  of 
study  might  otherwise  remain  ignorant.  Instruction 
of  this  kind  ought  to  be  given  in  every  school  in  the 
State.  The  unwisely  conservative,  who  cling  with 
such  tenacity  to  the  ‘good  old  ways,’  should  remem¬ 
ber  that  progress  pays  no  respect  whatever  to  myths 
and  traditions.  While  thought  is  reforming  abuses 
in  government,  sweeping  away  antiquated  systems 
that  have  outlived  their  usefulness,  and  science  is 
revolutionizing  the  industries  of  the  world,  it  is  not 
probable  that  the  ’school  room,  with  its  traditional 
methods  of  instruction  and  managment,  will  be  let 
alone.” 

Says  Hon.  Newton  Bateman,  State  Superintendent 
of  Illinois,  in  his  report  for  1874. 

“It  is  remarked  with  emphasis  that  the  time  for 
the  study  of  the  elements  of  natural  science  may  be 
secured  by  a  thorough  revision  of  the  old  seven 
branch  course  of  common  school  studies.  Not 
more  than  one  or  two  of  them  can  be  dispensed 
with,  and  not  one  of  them  need  be,  in  order  to  make 
room  for  the  new  studies.  How,  then,  is  the  neces¬ 
sary  time  to  be  gained  for  the  elements  of  natural 
science?  By  eliminating  or  discarding  all  useless  or 
superfluous  matter  from  the  text  -books,  and  thereby 
saving  waited  time.  This,  with  improved  methods 
of  teaching,  will  effectually  solve  the  problem.” 

“Says  Hon.  EzraS.  Carr,  State  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction  of  California,  and  who  is  a  zeal¬ 
ous  member  of  the  Patrons  of  Husbandry: 

“I  am  with  you  heartily  in  every  word  expressed 
in  your  excellent  circular.  For  the  last  thirty  years 
I  have  been  urging  these  things  in  higher  and  lower 
schools,  and  I  have  great  hope  that  the  unanimous 
effects  of  the  grange  will  result  in  a  reform. 

“Four  years  ago,  the  State  Grange  of  California 
took  action  upon  the  subject  of  education  and  labor. 
We  have  a  standing  committee  on  this  subject,  and  in 
connection  with  their  first  report  the  following 
among  other  resolutions  were  adopted. 

Resolved:  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  the  State 
Grange  of  the  Patrons  of  Husbandry  that  all  our 
public  institutions  from  the  private  school  to  the 
University  should  be  developed  in  the  direction 
of  practical  and  technical  education. 

Resolved:  That  to  this  end  elementary  studies 
in  botany  and  other  branches  of  natural  history,  in 
their  relations  to  agriculture  and  horticulture  should 
be  introduced  into  our  district  schools.” 

President  G.  S.  Albee,  of  the  Wisconsin  State 
Normal  School  at  Oshkosh,  says; 


16 


“Of  all  classes  of  the  community,  the  farmer 
should  be  best  informed  regarding  the  natural  sci¬ 
ences.  No  other  industry  calls  for  such  varied  and 
exact  knowledge  of  nature’s  laws.  No  person  can 
claim  to  be  a  “good  citizen”  unless  he  understands 
and  obeys  the  laws  of  health;  hence  all  classes  of 
pupils  should  be  trained  in  Physiology.  That  far¬ 
mer  who  twenty  years  hence  is  ignorant  of  the  chem¬ 
istry  of  soils  and  grains,  and  of  the  habits  of  plants 
and  such  animals  as  are  a  help  or  a  hindrance  to 
their  successful  growth,  will  find  himself  pushed  to 
the  wall.  While  experience  and  thought,  quickened 
by  interest,  may  do  much,  still  every  farmer  finds 
much  in  his  agricultural  paper  that  is  unintelligible 
unless  he  is  trained  in  the  rudiments  of  natural  sci¬ 
ence.  As  to  the  feasibility  of  obtaining  even  a  tol¬ 
erable  basis  of  knowledge  in  several  of  these,  during 
a  common  school  course,  I  have  grave  doubts  un¬ 
less  two  conditions  are  complied  with;  first,  that  a 
recitation  room  be  attached  to  each  school  building, 
in  which  the  younger  pupils  may  be  taught  by  one 
or  more  of  the  older  pupils  under  the  direction  of 
the  teacher;  thus  giving  the  trained  teacher  oppor* 
tunity  to  impart  the  higher  knowledge;  second,  that 
teachers  thoroughly  educated  in  these  branches  be 
employed  for  the  purpose.  By  “thoroughly  educa¬ 
ted”  is  not  meant,  necessarily,  a  graduate  of  a  tech¬ 
nical  school,  but  one  who  has  an  experimental 
knowledge  rather  than  a  cursory  knowledge  of  the 
literature  of  science.  In  Europe,  France  in  partic¬ 
ular, all  rural  (district)  schools  have  a  piece  of  ground 
tilled  by  the  teacher  and  pupils  as  an  “experimental 
farm”  on  a  small  scale,  and  the  agricultural  and 
horticultural  societies  of  the  neighborhood  unite 
with  them  in  observation  and  suggestion.  In  this 
country,  as  wages  in  other  employments  range,  a 
teacher,  fit  to  teach  a  common  school  of  the  kind 
needed,  will  command  $100  a  month;  but  it  would 
be  the  best  investment  a  father  ever  made  for  his 
children,  that,  instead  of  error  and  dislike  of 
study  being  implanted,  fruitful  truths  may  be  sown 
which  will  certainly  bear  perennial  harvests. 

‘'One  of  the  sad  features  of  society,  to-day,  is  the 
large  number  of  farmers  who  are  leaving  their 
homes,  and,  abandoning  the  employment  which  has 
taken  the  best  part  of  their  lives  to  learn,  removing 
to  some  town  “to  educate  their  children.”  If  they 
were  wise  they  would  bring  talent  and  culture  into 
the  district  by  the  payment  of  liberal  salaries,  and 
stay  in  the  home  endeared  by  the  interests  and 
memories  of  a  score  of  years  by-gone,  remain  at  the 
work  for  which  they  have  become  fitted. 

“I  trust  that  your  order  may  induce  a  wiser  course 
in  this  all  important  matter,  and  inaugurate  meas¬ 
ures  that  the  entire  West  will  gladly  adopt.” 

Hon.  C.  W.  Van  Coelln,  State  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction  of  the  State  of  Iowa,  says: 

“The  development  of  the  power  to  express  thought 
is  closely  connected  with  instruction  in  the  elements 
of  natural  science  and  history,  including  the  civil 
institutions  of  the  country.  This  instruction  should 
be  given  orally,  and  to  a  great  extent  be  the  result 
of  the  observation  of  the  children.  The  observa¬ 
tions  thus  obtained  should  be  reduced  to  writing, 
and  a  composition  would  be  the  result. 

“All  the  scholars  in  our  public  schools  should  be 


taught  to  keep  accounts,  in  a  simple  but  correct 
way,  and  they  should  also  be  taught  correct  forms 
for  all  business  papers,  and  how  to  write  business 
letters. 

“For  purposes  of  use  as  well  as  entertainment, 
drawing  and  vocal  music  should  be  taught  in  our 
schools.  Vocal  music  may  not  be  worth  as  much 
in  dollars  and  cents  as  drawing,  but  it  is  recognized 
now  as  an  acquirement  without  which  society  would 
lose  some  of  its  greatest  attractions.” 

Prof.  M.  M.  Campbell,  of  the  Indiana  State  Uni¬ 
versity.  says: 

“And  now,  with  competent  teachers,  and  with 
improved  modes  of  teaching,  I  fully  believe  that  all 
these  common  branches  can  be  as  well  taught  as 
heretofore,  and  even  better,  and  yet  time  enough 
saved,  especially  from  the  speller,  the  grammar  and 
the  geography,  to  learn  music  and  to  make  some 
progress  in  botany,  geology,  natural  history,  ento¬ 
mology,  &c. ,  one  or  all  of  them.  And  with  nature, 
and  a  ready  field  of  observation  all  around  him,  and 
ever  forcing  its  facts  upon  his  view,  a  very  slight 
start  in  any  of  these  interesting  and  most  practical 
studies  would  suffice  to  develop  many  a  gifted  Au¬ 
dubon  or  Agassiz.” 

Says  Prof.  A.  O.  Wright,  Principal  of  Monticello 
Academy,  Florida,  to  whom  was  referred  our  circus 
lar  of  inquiries  addressed  to  Brother  Geo.  W.  Tays 
lor,  Worthy  Master  of  the  Florida  State  Grange: 

“Too  much  time  is  wasted  in  the  subdivisions 
above  alluded  to,  in  many  schools,  which,  in  my 
school,  is  devoted  to  bookkeeping,  drawing,  and  to 
the  general  principles  of  the  natural  sciences;  ever 
keeping  in  view  those  facts,  which  will  be  of  future 
service  to  the  young  agriculturist  and  mechanic. 

“I  take  several  approved  periodicals  for  my  school, 
among  them  I  mention  the  Scientific  American.”  * 

Says  President  Wm.  M.  F.  Phelps: 

“Next  in  importance  to  the  preparatory  discipline 
resulting  from  a  careful  and  thorough  teaching  of 
reading,  writing,  the  elements  of  drawing,  arithmes 
tic,  the  English  language,  the  geography  and  history 
of  our  own  country,  with  their  immediate  connec¬ 
tions,  must  be  ranked  the  elements  of  those  physi¬ 
cal  and  natural  sciences  upon  which  the  great  indus¬ 
tries  of  life  depend.  That  the  industrial  classes 
should  thoroughly  understand  their  business,  is  a 
proposition  admitting  of  no  dispute.  That  a  proper 
understanding  of  the  pursuits  by  which  they  live, 
demands  a  mastery  of  the  elements  of  the  sciences 
is  equally  evident.  Some  of  the  leading  facts  of 
these  brances  may  be,  and  should  be  incidentally  in¬ 
troduced  into  the  preparatory  course  hereinbefore 
suggested,  to  the  end  that  a  taste  for  the  study  of 
nature  may  be  fostered  and  strengthened,  and  a  rea¬ 
sonable  guarantee  afforded  that  their  further  pursuit 
may  become  a  part  of  the  life  study  of  the  future. 
That  such  a  plan  alone  is  feasible  in  a  great  majoris 
ty  of  cases  must  be  evident  from  a  consideration  of 
the  limited  duration  of  the  school  period  already  re¬ 
ferred  to,  and  conclusively  shown  by  your  investi¬ 
gation.  It  is  true  however  that  if  we  can  secure  to 
the  masses  of  our  children  the  very  best  style  of 
teaching  during  the  first  two  or  three  years  of  school 
life,  we  shall  greatly  increase  their  capacity  and  their 
desire  to  learn,  and  thus  lead  many  of  them  to  seek 


17  , 


more  extended  school  privileges,  as  well  as  to  en¬ 
large  their  knowledge  by  private  study  amid  the 
pursuits  of  active  life.  For  this  class,  the  higher 
grades  of  schools  will  be  open,  and  in  these  the 
courses  of  study  should  be  wisely  adapted  to  their 
future  callings  as  constituents  of  the  industrial  class- 
es.  In  fact,  the  grand  principle  which  should  gov¬ 
ern  the  choice  of  studies  in  all  our  institutions  of 
learning  should  be  their  adaptation  to  the  wants  of 
the  many,  rather  than  of  the  few.  So  far  as  the 
needs  of  all  classes  can  be  met  in  one  and  the  same 
course  let  that  course  be  so  adjusted.  But  if  a 
choice  must  be  made  let  it  be  made  in  favor  of  the 
industrial  classes,  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the  coun¬ 
try.” 

Hon.  John  Fraser,  State  Superintendent  for  Kan¬ 
sas,  in  his  annual  report  for  1875,  says: 

"A  knowledge  of  the  elements  of  the  sciences 
which,  during  the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  have 
wrought  wonderful  changes  in  the  processes  and 
products  of  the  world’s  industries,  is  daily  more  and 
more  widely,  felt,  even  by  the  masses,  to  be  necessa- 
ry  to  enable  youth  to  meet  intelligently  and  success¬ 
fully  the  requirements  of  industrial  life;  and  indeed, 
it  may  be  added,  of  every  condition  of  life.  The  els 
ements  of  at  least  some  one  of  these  sciences  have 
been,  for  years  past,  taught  in  many  of  the  common 
schools  of  our  State.  Many  of  the  applications  of 
these  sciences  so  intimately  and  widely  affect  every 
day  life,  that  a  knowledge  of  their  principles  is  rap¬ 
idly  receiving  recognition  as  an  essential  part  of  a 
good  common  education.” 

F.  H.  Snow,  Professor  of  Natural  Science  in  the 
University  of  Kansas,  says: 

“It  seems  to  me  that  there  should  be  a  radical 
change  in  our  methods  of  instruction  for  children 
between  the  ages  of  five  and  fifteen.  They  should 
no  longer  be  required  to  devote  their  chief  attention 
to  the  memorizing  of  abstract  rules  in  arithmetic  and 
grammar  and  of  unimportant  geographical  facts, 
The  time  now  squandered  in  this  way  should  be  de¬ 
voted  to  studies  which,  not  only  furnish  a  valuable 
training  to  the  power  of  observation  but  also  impart 
information  of  great  practical  value  to  the  masses  of 
our  people.  A  knowledge  of  the  structure  and  hab¬ 
its  of  plants,  insects,  birds  and  other  animals,  should, 
in  my  opinion,  be  communicated  in  every  school 
room,  and  may  be  communicated  not  only  without 
weakening  our  educational  system,  but  with  the  imx 
portant  result  of  immeasurably  increasing  its  strength 
and  efficiency.” 

Says  Dr.  Jas.  Marvin,  Chancellor  of  the  Kansas 
State  University: 

‘‘The  elements  of  natural  science  are  demanding, 
rightfully,  more  attention.  Our  State  is  emphatical¬ 
ly  agricultural.  The  popular  drift  of  education  will 
be  in  that  direction.  This  will  require  careful  mans 
agement  lest  it  should  run  to  an  extreme  and  our 
people  conclude  that  all  education  worth  having  by 
farmers  must  be  especially  adapted  for  farmers.  Stu¬ 
dents  in  the  rural  districts  will  be  induced  to  study 
Botany  and  Natural  Philosophy  so  as  to  apply  them 
more  readily  than  city  pupils.  But  the  interest  in 
such  studies  as  subjects  of  thought  is  often  in  favor 
of  the  student  pent  within  city  walls.” 

Prof.  Wm.  K.  Kedzie,  of  the  Kansas  State  Agri¬ 
cultural  College,  says; 


“  I  am  especially  interested  in  the  work  of  your 
committee,  because  it  looks  to  the  introduction  of 
elementary  scientific  studies  into  our  schools;  which 
seems  to  me  from  every  point  of  view  most  desira¬ 
ble.  When  we  consider  how  small  a  percentage  of 
the  school  children  of  the  State  ever  go  beyond  the 
common  school,  it  seems  emphatically  wrong  to  de¬ 
ny  them  the  means  of  becoming  familiar  with,  at 
least  the  elementary  principles  of  those  sciences 
which  would  add  zest  and  enjoyment  to  their  school 
days,  and  contribute  so  much  toward  making  them 
intelligent  men  and  women  in  after  life. 

‘‘But  in  all  these  changes  and  improvements  great 
care  should  be  taken  to  impress  upon  all  concerned 
that  thoroughness — both  in  instruction  and  study,  is 
the  one  thing  needful,  both  to  teacher  and  student. 

‘‘My  little  text-book  upon  Agricultural  Geology 
is  now  ready  for  the  press.” 

A  step  was  taken  by  the  Kansas  Legislature  at  its 
last  session,  towards  bringing  into  our  schools,  in¬ 
struction  in  some  of  the  branches  in  natural  science, 
and  also  in  those  useful  branches, — U.  S.  History, 
industrial  drawing  and  book-keeping.  The  new  law 
awards  an  additional  year’s  certificate  to  such  teach¬ 
ers  as  may  exhibit  qualifications  to  teach  the  new 
branches. 

The  law  prior  to  the  act  of  1876  provided  for  the 
issuing  of  certificates  of  qualification  to  continue  in 
force  for  one  year  only,  and  required  an  examina¬ 
tion  in  the  following  branches  only:  Orthography, 
reading,  writing,  English  grammar,  geography  and 
arithmetic. 

The  act  of  1876  authorizes  boards  of  examiners  to 
issue  certificates  to  hold  for  two  years,  in  cases  where 
applicants  exhibit  qualifications  to  teach,  in  addition 
to  the  branches  mentioned  above,  the  following:  “U. 
S.  History,  Book-keeping,  industrial  drawing,  the 
elements  of  entomology,  the  elements  of  botany, 
and  the  elements  of  geology  so  far  as  relates  to  the 
manner  of  formation  of  soils  and  their  adaptation  to 
purposes  of  production.” 

We  are  able  to  state  that  this  change  in  the  law  is 
generally  well  received  by  teachers,  some  of  whom 
in  most  of  the  counties  have  set  about  the  work  of 
studying  and  teaching  the  new  branches.  In  most 
f  the  teachers’s  institutes,  required  by  law  to  be 
held  in  every  county,  instruction  in  these  branches 
has  been  sought  for  and  provided.  The  educators 
of  the  State  have  accepted  the  law  as  a  definite  es¬ 
tablishment  of  an  educational  policy.  It  has  led  to 
a  movement  which  is  already  bringing  a  manifest 
new  life  and  vigor  to  the  common  school  work  in 
Kansas. 

As  has  been  shown  elsewhere,  State  Superinten¬ 
dent,  John  Fraser,  in  his  annual  report  tor  1875 
recommended  the  introduction  of  the  natural 
sciences  as  branches  of  instruction  to  be  required 
to  be  taught  in  the  common  schools  ef  the_  State. 

The  particular  provision  which  was  incorporated 
in  the  law  and  which  I  have  explained,  was  framed 
by  the  Grange  Committee  on  Education;  and  by  the 
co-operation  of  Superintendent  Fraser  and  other 
influential  educators,  and  by  the  very  effective  aid 
of  members  of  the  Grange  in  the  legislature  its  pass¬ 
age  was  secured. 

RECOMMENDATIONS. 

The  recommendations  of  your  committee,  in  re- 


18 


spect  to  courses  of  study  in  the  common  schools, 
are: 

That  instruction  be  required,  of  the  most  thor¬ 
ough  character  in  those  portions  of  the  old  studies 
useful  and  necessary  to  all  classes.  It  is  recommen¬ 
ded  that  portions  of  the  old  studies  which  have  come 
into  the  schools  under  the  plea  for  mental  discipline, 
and  which  could  never  have  had  any  higher  claim 
for  -  consideration  than  that  they  are  disciplinary, 
should  be  discarded:  and,  in  lieu  tnereof,  that  there 
shall  be  employed  studies  calculated  to  impart 
knowledge  respecting  those  things  which  enter  into 
the  common  affairs  of  life; — into  the  business  and 
the  pleasures  of  life:  studies  which  explain  the  ob- 
jects  with  which  we  are  surrounded,  which  explain 
the  laws  of  plant  and  animal  life  and  growth,  which 
explain  the  insects  and  the  flowers,  the  rocks  and 
the  soils,  the  birds  and  the  fishes,  the  water  and  the 
air,  the  clouds  and  the  sunlight,  the  stars  and,  I 
might  almost  say,  which  explain  the  great  Creator 
himself,  who  made  all  these  things  for  man’s  use,  for 
his  study,  contemplation  and  enjoyment.  In  place 
of  the  dry  and  soulless  discipline  of  old  abstractions, 
it  is  proposed  to  supply  the  study  of  those  things 
which  awaken  thought,  inspire  a  love  of  nature  and 
lead  the  minds  of  our  children  up  to  a  contempla¬ 
tion  of  the  greatness  and  wisdom  and  goodness  of 
creative  power. 

HOW  TO  BE  BROUGHT  ABOUT. 

Now  as  to  how  these  changes  are  to  be  accom¬ 
plished.  How  is  the  Grange  to  perform  its  part 
in  the  work  of  inducing  the  needed  changes?  Here 
is  the  practical  question  for  our  consideration. 

The  members  of  the  order  must  consider  and  aps 
prove  a  policy  of  action,  and  then  by  all  just  means 
in  their  power  seek  to  make  such  action  effective. 

Let  us  first  go  home  to  our  own  neighborhoods 
and  our  school  districts,  where  our  teachers  obtain 
their  qualifications, — three-fourths  at  least  of  all  the 
teachers, — in  the  very  schools  where  we  find  the 
methods  and  courses  of  instruction  which  we  con¬ 
demn.  We  find  there  advanced  pupils,  and  bright 
ones,  approaching  manhood,  and  womanhood,  aspi¬ 
ring  to  become  teachers.  We  must,  by  legislative 
action,  such  as  we,  who  have  eight-tenths  of  the  vot¬ 
ing  power  in  the  State  can  influence  and  bring 
about,  institute  measures  to  directly  improve  these 
schools.  Legislative  action  may  be  secured  by 
which  the  State,  through  its  Superintendent  of  Pub¬ 
lic  Instruction,  or  State  Board  of  Education,  or  by 
direct  legal  prescription,  may  establish  courses  of 
study,  and  place  a  limit  upon  instruction  in  the  com¬ 
mon  branches,  in  the  primary  classes,  so  as  to  ad¬ 
mit  of  thoroughness  in  essential  portions,  and  at 
the  same  time  to  give  room  for  elementary  instruc¬ 
tion  in  new  branches. 

COUNTRY  HIGH  SCHOOLS. 

But  at  best  these  district  schools  will  afford  poor 
facilities  for  advanced  pupils  preparing  to  become 
teachers.  Country  High  Schools  must  be  provided 
for  the  needs  of  those  advanced  pupils  who  are  to 
become  teachers,  and  indeed  for  the  needs  of  all  the 
children  in  the  country,  who  aieto  receive  a  good 
education;  such  an  education  as  the  State  has  under¬ 
taken  to  give  every  child, — and  such  as  is  afforded 


to  those  in  the  city,  but  which  is  absolutely  withheld 
from  those  in  the  country. 

It  is  impossible  that,  at  the  very  best  the  primary 
district  schools  should  give  that  breadth  of  educa¬ 
tion,  that  culture  and  discipline  of  mind,  which  is 
so  important  as  a  ground  work  of  education  for  ev¬ 
ery  young  person  who  is  to  enter  upon  a  prepara¬ 
tion  for  the  important  duties  of  school  teacher,  or  of 
the  higher  duties  of  citizenship. 

Let  us  now  take  a  more  particular  look  into  one 
of  these  district  schools  and  see  how  poor  are  the 
facilities  there  given  for  the  education  of  school 
teachers. 

The  law  admits  all  the  youth  between  the  ages  of 
six  and  twenty-one  years,  and  during  part  of  the 
year,  at  least,  nearly  all  are  in  attendance.  Little 
fellows  who  have  just  touched  the  line  of  eligibility 
are  there,  for  the  first  time,  with  their  primers  and 
spelling  books,  intent  upon  mastering  the  mysteries 
of  the  alphabet.  There,  too,  are  young  men  and 
misses,  for  the  last  time,  having  traversed  agairf  and 
again  the  advanced  ground  of  the  scanty  curriculum, 
yet  hoping  to  gather  up  some  additional  crumbs  of 
knowledge  before  saying  good  bye  to  school.  Be¬ 
tween  these  extremes  are  all  the  gradations  of  age, 
aptitude  and  attainment — the  dull  and  the  bright, 
the  fast  and  the  slow,  the  gentle  and  the  rough,  the 
strong  and  the  weak — all  to  be  instructed  and  cared 
for,  in  innumerable  ways,  by  the  one  teacher.  He 
does  the  best  he  can.  If  he  can  find  four  or  five 
near  enough  together  in  knowledge  and  capacity  to 
be  formed  into  a  class  in  any  one  of  the  branches 
taught,  he  is  glad  to  do  it.  And  so  of  still  smaller 
numbers,  down  to  even  two.  But  after  exhausting 
all  possibilities  in  this  direction,  he  finds  that  the  re¬ 
maining  number  of  individual  ones,  exceeds  the 
whole  number  of  his  classes.  To  each  of  these  indi- 
yidual  pupils  he  must  give  such  occasional  and  hur¬ 
ried  assistance  as  he  can.  He  works  hard,  but  at  a 
fearful  disadvantage.  Systematic  teaching  is  out  of 
the  question — concentration  of  effort  is  impossible. 
He  has  but  single  minutes  where  he  should  have 
five,  ten  or  fifteen — but  seconds  often,  where  he 
should  have  minutes.  Instead  of  that  smooth,  quiet 
and  sequential  movement  of  school  life  and  work 
which,  reacting,  produces  mental  tranquility  and 
steadiness  in  the  pupils,  there  is  confusion,  hurry, 
disorder,  friction.  No  fixed  time-table  or  schedule 
of  school  exercises  is  possible — no  pupil  knows 
just  when  he  will  be  called  upon  to  recite,  or  when 
he  can  have  needful  assistance.  The  order  of  work 
is  never  the  same  for  two  consecutive  days  unless  by 
chance — cannot  be.  Individual  pupils  often  go,  in 
emergencies,  a  whole  day  or  more  without  being 
able  to  secure  a  moment's  attention  from  the  teach¬ 
er,  and  in  the  meantime  they  may  be  at  a  standstill 
for  lack  of  light  upon  some  obscure  point  in  the  les¬ 
son,  or  a  hint  of  the  way  out  of  some  tangle,  or  over 
some  obstacle.  And  when  the  favorable  moment 
for  explanation  comes,  the  teacher  may  be  called 
away  just  at  the  critical  point  where  a  few  words 
more  would  make  everything  clear.  Discontent, 
listlessness,  loss  of  interest,  indifference,  inevitably 
ensue.  The  tone  of  the  school  is  lowered;  a  sort  of 
weary  spiritlessness  settles  down  upon  it;  duties  are 
performed  in  a  careless  mechanical  way,  and  the 


19 


hours  drag  heavily  on.  There  is  nothing  beyond,  no 
other  school  to  go  to,  no  outside  incentive  to  effort, 
no  fresh  breeze  from  any  quarter  to  stir  the  surface 
of  the  sluggish  waters. 

An  existing  provision  in  the  laws  of  Kansas,  acts 
of  1876,  chapter  7,  sec.  I,  provides  for  union  or  gras 
ded  school  districts;  as  follows:  “Whenever  the  ins 
habitants  of  two  or  more  school  districts,  [or  an  en-> 
tire  township,  or  even  more]  may  wish  to  unite  for 
the  purpose  of  establishing  a  graded  school  in  which 
instruction  shall  be  given  in  the  higher  branches  of 
education,  the  clerks  of  the  several  districts  shall,  nps 
on  a  written  application  of  five  voters  of  the  respec^ 
tive  districts,  call  a  meeting  of  the  voters  of  such 
districts,  at  some  convenient  place,  by  posting  up- 
written  notices  thereof,  in  like  manner  as  provided 
for  calling  district  meetings;  and  if  a  majority  of  the 
voters  of  the  two  or  more  districts  shall  vote  to  unite 
for  the  purpose  herein  stated,  they  shall,  at  that 
meeting  or  at  an  adjourned  meeting,  elect  a  board 
of  directors,  consisting  of  a  director,  clerk  and  treass 
urer.’’ 

COUNTY  HIGH  SCHOOLS. 

Other  sections  of  th§  law  provide  for  a  distribu¬ 
tion  of  school  monies  to  such  country  high  schools, 
and  for  their  general  management. 

Now  let  a  good  country  high  school,  such  as  is 
contemplated  in  this  law,  with  fresh  and  advanced 
studies,  superior  teachers,  improved  methods,  regu¬ 
lar  classes,  progressive  steps,  and  thorough  and  sys¬ 
tematic  instruction,  be  opened  in  a  township,  and 
what  a  transformation  would  be  wrought  in  those 
sluggish  schools.  What  an  awakening  and  quick¬ 
ening  breath  would  reanimate  those  tired  and  torpid 
boys  and  girls.  There  if  something  to  work  for  now, 
an  qbjective  point  to  be  gained,  a  prize  to  be  reach¬ 
ed.  The  high  school  becomes  a  topic  of  absorbing 
interest  to  all  who  expect  to  continue  their  studies, 
and  their  enthusiasm,  is  communicated  to  all  the 
rest.  The  new  school,  its  teachers,  classes,  disci¬ 
pline  and  internal  arrangements,  are  eagerly  dis¬ 
cussed,  morning,  noon  and  evening ;  and  especially 
the  conditions  of  admission  and  the  chances  of  suc¬ 
cess.  Those  who  are  to  go  to  the  high  school  be¬ 
gin  at  once,  with  zest  and  spirit,  the  work  of  prepar¬ 
ation  for  the  examinations  that  will  crown  or  disap¬ 
point  their  hopes.  Early  and  late  they  are  at  their 
books,  which  are  suddenly  invested  with  a  new  in¬ 
terest  and  importance.  .As  the  decisive  day  ap¬ 
proaches,  knots  of  boys  and  bevies  of  girls  gather  in 
all  sorts  of  out-of-the-way  places,  to  review  the  sub¬ 
jects  on  which  they  are  to  be  examined — each  in  turn 
questioning  the  others  thereon.  Those  district 
schools,  lately  so  dull,  glow  with  healthful  excite¬ 
ment,  and  become  very  bee-hives  of  industry.  Those 
who  pass  to  the  high  school  add  to  the  interest  al¬ 
ready  awakened,  by  their  stirring  accounts  of  their 
new  duties  and  experiences.  Meeting  daily  with  the 
pupils  of  the  lower  schools,  they  answer  innumera¬ 
ble  questions,  and  seek  to  satisfy  the  tireless  curiosity 
of  their  less  fortunate  companions.  Strong  bonds  of 
friendship  are  thus  established  between  the  schools, 
and  good  feeling  prevails  on  every  hand.  Such  as 
failed  at  the  first  examination  try  again,  and  many 
who  had  expected  their  days  of  pupilage  to  end  with 
the  common  school,  are  induced,  by  the  contagion  of 


example,  to  reconsider  their  purpose,  and  press  on 
towards  the  high  school.  Thus  is  the  whole  aspect 
of  school  affairs  in  the  township  changed  for  the 
better. 

.  The  provision  of  our  law  for  union,  graded,  or 
township  high  schools,  has  thus  far  been  inopera¬ 
tive  ;  doubtless,  mainly  because  of  the  additional 
expenses  attending  the  establishment  and  keeping  up 
of  such  schools.  The  present  sparse  population  of 
large  portions  of  the  State  has  made  such  schools  im¬ 
practicable  in  those  portions  of  the  State.  But  in 
the  older  sections,  the  establishment  of  such  schools 
would  be  practicable ;  and,  where  established,  the 
State  should  bear  a  portion  of  the  burden  of  sustain¬ 
ing  them.  The  State  should  encourage  the  form¬ 
ing  of  such  schools,  by  paying  a  certain  per  centage 
of  the  cost  additional  to  that  allowed  the  same  school 
population  not  establishing  such  schools.  Such  pre¬ 
mium  should  be  confined  solely  to  country  high 
schools  ;  or  possibly  might  be  allowed  to  include 
small  towns,  below  the  rank  of  cities  of  the  second 
class ;  which  might  b,e  made  the  nuclii  of  such  high 
school  districts. 

If  it  is  objected  that  such  would  be  an  unequal  ap  - 
plication  of  the  State  school  funds  to  the  people  of 
the  State,  it  must  be  remembered  that  exact  equality 
in  benefits  derived  from  the  distribution  of  these 
funds  is  impossible.  Every  dollar  of  public  money 
now  employed  in  sustaining  city  graded  schools  has 
three  times  the  educational  power  of  the  same  money 
expended  in  ungraded  country  district  schools.  The 
State  is  under  obligation  to  do  something  towards  an 
equal  distribution  of  educational  advantages. 

One  of  the  direct  results  of  country  high  schools, 
one  of  the  first  and  best  to  be  noticed,  is  the  imme¬ 
diate  relief  afforded  to  the  district  schools.  The 
high  school  pupils  are  of  course  drawn  from  the  dis¬ 
trict  schools  of  the  townships,  and  the  attendance  in 
the  latter  is  reduced  accordingly.  This  reduction 
will,  in  many  instances,  enable  the  people  to  discon¬ 
tinue  one  or  more  of  the  district  schools,  thereby,  ma¬ 
terially  diminishing  the  expense.  In  fact, such  will  be 
the  general  effect,  when  the  readjustment  of  districts 
consequent  upon  the  establishment  of  the  high 
school,  is  fully  accomplished  ;  so  that  the  aggregate 
expense  teethe  townships  having  high  schools  will 
not  in  the  end,  be  materially  greater  than  it  was  be¬ 
fore.  But  whether  the  number  of  lower  schools  is 
reduced  or  not,  the  withdrawal  to  the  high  school  of 
all  the  more  advanced  scholars  will  at  once  dimin¬ 
ish  the  number  of  classes  and  of  unclassified  pupils 
in  the  several  district  schools,  and  thus  very  greatly 
lessen  the  burdens  of  the  respective  teachers  and  im¬ 
prove  the  efficiency  of  their  schopls.  The  remaining 
pupils  may,  to  a  great  extent,  be  formed  into  classes 
securing  in  part,  at  least,  the  benefits  of  the  graded 
system. 

But  the  chief  and  crowning  benefit  of  a  free 
country  high  school  would  be  that  it  would  bring 
the  means  of  an  advanced  education  to  the  very 
doors  as  it  were,  of  every  farmer  in  the  State.  It 
would  obviate  the  expense  and  the  risk  of  sending 
to  distant  places  those  sons  and  daughters  who  hun¬ 
ger  and  thirst  for  what  the  common  district  school 
can  not  give  them.  At  home,  the  best  and  safest 
place  on  earth  for  our  boys  and  girls,  under  the 


20 


watchful  guardianship  of  parents  and  friends,  sur¬ 
rounded  by  helpful  and  wholesome  influences,  they 
may  quietly  and  happily  pursue  their  studies,  till, 
fitted,  by  thoughtful  habits  and  enlarged  intelligence, 
either  to  take  their  places  in  the  industrial  walks  of 
life,  or  to  enter  still  higher  institutions  of  learning, 
as  inclination  or  circumstances  may  suggest,  or  to 
take  their  places  in  the  army  of  district  school 
teachers ;  now  so  sadly  in  need  of  recruits  from 
schools  of  a  better  training  than  those  which  at 
present  furnish  most  of  our  country  teachers. 

COUNTY  NORMAL  INSTITUTES. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  most  important  reform  to  be 
brought  about  in  our  common  school  system,  must 
be  through  the  education  of  our  teachers,  in  respect 
to  their  duties  as  instructors.  Besides  having  a  bet¬ 
ter  ground  work  of  education  given  them  than  that 
now  afforded  in  our  poorly  taught  country  schools, 
they  must  be  educated  in  improved  methods  of  im¬ 
parting  instruction,  and  thoroughly  imbued  with  an 
understanding  of  the  character  of  instruction  adapted 
to  the  wants  of  industrial  people.  The  State  must 
set  in  operation  a  thorough  system  of  normal  in¬ 
struction,  which  shall  reach,  in  its  benefits,  every 
portion  of  the  State. 

The  most  feasible  means  of  distributing  normal 
education,  in  an  equitable  manner,  over  the  whole 
State,  is  through  the  encouragement,  by  the  State, 
of  county  normal  institutes.  Such  institutes,  as 
now  established  by  law  in  this  State,  have  proven  a 
valuable  means  of  qualifying  teachers, and  of  prompt¬ 
ing  them  to  strive  to  excel  in  qualifications.  The 
law  provides  that  teachf rs  institutes  shall  be  held  by 
the  State  Superintendent,  annually  in  every  judicial 
district ;  making  fifteen  such  institutes  in  all.  Be¬ 
sides  this,  the  county  superintendents  are  required, 
in  the  more  populous  counties,  to  hold  such  insti¬ 
tutes  annually.  These  institutes,  many  of  them,  are 
held,  as  the  law  provides,  usually  extending  through 
a  session  of  one  week.  Such  short  sessions,  however, 
accomplish  comparatively,  but  little  good.  Attend¬ 
ants  scarcely  get  down  to  work  in  so  short  a  time. 
There  is  a  sad  lack  of  competent  instructors,  too,  in 
these  institutes.  The  State  should  provide  for  pay¬ 
ment  of  the  services  of  competent  instructors  in 
these  teachers  institutes ;  and  should  provide  for 
sessions  of  several  weeks  duration.  In  quite  a  num¬ 
ber  of  the  counties,  during  the  past  year,  sessions 
have  been  voluntarily  held,  through  a  period  of  one 
or  two  months. 

The  small  contribution  which  would  be  required 
to  be  made  by  the  State  to  provide  competent  in¬ 
structors  in  these  institutes  would  lead  to  their  being 
very  generally  held  in  all  the  counties.  Such  aid 
need  scarcely  incur  an  expense  to  the  State  greater 
in  the  aggregate,  than  that  required  for  the  support 
of  one  or  two  normal  schools.  Money  expended  in 
this  way  would  very  effectively  distribute  normal  ed¬ 
ucation  over  the  whole  State. 

Instructors  in  such  institutes,  to  entitle  them  to 
compensation  from  the  State,  should  be  properly  ac¬ 
credited  as  to  their  qualifications  as  instructors  of 
teachers.  This  should  be  attended  to  through  State 
supervision.  The  State  should  have  it  in  its  depart¬ 
ment  of  public  instruction  a  sufficient  working  force 
to  effect  a  complete  supervision  of  normal  institute 


work  throughout  Ihe  State  ;  to  organize  normal  in¬ 
stitutes  and  approve  competent  instructors  and  to 
superintend  the  work  of  county  superintendents,  so 
far  at  least  as  relates  to  their  duties  as  visitors  of 
schools  and  their  competency  as  managers  of  nor¬ 
mal  institutes. 

Says  Bro.  Stephen  M.  Wood,  a  member  of  our 
educational  commmittee,  on  this  subject : 

“I  think  we  should  have  county  institutes,  lasting 
from  one  to  four  weeks,'  for  the  training  of  actual 
teachers ;  and  that  to  make  them  effective,  certifi¬ 
cates  should  be  given  only  to  those  who  had  attend¬ 
ed  a  certain  length  of  time.  Probably  the  better 
plan  would  be  to  make  the  institute  the  examination, 
and  combine  the  two. 

Let  the  county  employ  competent  instructors. 
The  expense  would  be  light,  and  the  benefit  gen¬ 
eral.  I  would  suggest  this  in  lieu  of  all  of  our  high 
toned  State  Institutions. 

In  our  Elmdale  school  we  have  forty-five  scholars, 
of  all  ages,  and  a  young  lady  teacher.  The  school 
is  graded  into  three  grades.  And  of  the  more  ad¬ 
vanced  scholars,  she  has  taken  some  six  aspirants  that 
hear  the  classes  in  the  primary  and  intermediate 
grades,  thus  benefitting  them  and  relieving  her. 

She  has  her  spelling  class  made  up  of  eight  and 
ten  years  old  children,  to  write  their  spelling  lessons, 
putting  your  ideas  into  practical  use. 

A  history  class  of  larger  scholars  are  required  to 
write  out  a  synopsis  of  some  subject ;  again  working 
out  your  ideas  as  to  practice  in  writing  and  com¬ 
posing.  Our  school  is  really  run  on  advanced 
principles  :  and  any  school  ip  the  State  might  be,  if 
we  had  some  system  like  county  institutes  to  train 
teachers.” 

A  County  Normal  Institute  system  has  been  well 
matured  in  the  State  of  Iowa,  and  the  State  super¬ 
intendents,  and  the  best  educational  workers  gener¬ 
ally,  declare  that  experience  has  proven  that  these 
institutes  afford  the  best  of  all  means  for  the  diffu¬ 
sion  of  effective  normal  instruction  over  the  whole 
State.  The  State  contributes  to  their  support,  pre¬ 
scribes  courses  of  instruction,  and  takes  general  su¬ 
pervision. 

As  early  as  1863,  the  Secretary  of  the  State  Board 
of  Education  said  :  “We  know  of  no  other  agency 
that  can  reach  so  many  teachers  with  so  little  ex¬ 
pense  to  the  State  and  so  great  profit  to  the  people. 
Of  the  8,500  teachers  in  the  State,  more  than  one 
half  have  attended  teachers  institutes  during  the  past 
two  years. 

During  i874,normal  Institutes  were  held  in  eighty- 
nine  counties  in  that  State.  Thirty-five  of  them 
continued  four  weeks  ;  26,  three  weeks ;  20,  two 
weeks,  and  eight  one  week. 

In  his  report  for  1875,  the  State  Superintendent 
says:  “Judging  from  a  large  number  visited,  and 
from  the  reports  which  have  been  received  from  all, 
it  is  safe  to  say  that  these  normal  institutes  have 
awakened  much  enthusiasm  among  teachers,  and 
given  a  great  impetus  to  the  school  work  in  the 
State.” 

Says  Hon.  C.  W.  Van  Coelln,  in  a  letter  to  our 
committee  referring  to  the  working  of  these  institutes 
for  1876  : 

“Ninety  eight  institutes  were  held  during  the  year, 


21 


only  one  county  failing  to  hold  one.  About  9,500 
teachers  were  iti  attendance  and  $27,000  were  ex¬ 
pended;  less  than  $3  per  head.  The  State  paid 
$50  to  each  institute,  or  $4,900  to  all,  while  the  teach¬ 
ers  contributed  nearly  all  the  rest.  A  few  counties 
aided  with  small  sums.  I  agree  with  my  predeces¬ 
sor  that  in  most  instances  great  good  was  accom¬ 
plished.” 

NORMAL  SCHOOLS. 

The  State,  under  constitutional  provision,  has  es¬ 
tablished  a  normal  department  in  connection  with 
the  State  University  at  Lawrence.  At  large  expense 
it  has  erected  a  normal  school  building  at  Emporia, 
and  has  set  apart  a  landed  endowment  for  the  sup¬ 
port  of  a  normal  school, which  has  for  years  occupied 
the  building,  and  was  supported  directly  by  the 
State,  the  land  remaining  unsold. 

Normal  schools,  as  hitherto  conducted,  have  been 
essentially  local  in  their  benefits.  Fifty-five  per 
cent,  of  the  students  attending  them  have  come  from 
the  counties  in  which  the  schools  have  been  located; 
and  nearly  all  of  the  remainder  from  adjacent  coun¬ 
ties.  Circumstances  of  a  pecuniary  nature  easily  ex¬ 
plain  this  fact.  The  problem  of  so  organizing  these 
institutions,  and  indeed  the  University  itself,  and  the 
Agricultural  College  as  well,  in  such  manner  as  to 
make  them  really  State  institutions  in  their  benefits, 
as  well  as  in  the  expenses  of  their  support,  is  one  ex¬ 
tremely  difficult  of  solution. 

Some  legislation  is  demanded  which  shall  at  least 
carry  from  these  institutions,  one  and  all  of  them, 
some  instruction  in  science  as  applied  to  industry, 
and  some  instruction  in  improved  methods,  to  every 
county  in  the  State.  Teachers  should  come  out 
from  these  institutions  to  instruct  the  teachers  in 
every  county  in  the  State,  in  improved  methods  of 
instruction  and  in  domestic  and  agricultural  science, 
and  thus  give  evidence  to  the  entire  people  ol  the 
State  of  their  usefulness  as  State  institutions.  Sta¬ 
tistics  show  that  now  but  one  in  five  hundred  of  the 
children  of  the  State  are  enabled  to  set  foot  within 
these  so-called  State  institutions.  Statistics  further 
show  that  this  one  in  five  hundred  comes  frum  the 
neighborhood  of  the  institution  itself. 

I  do  not  touch  upon  this  subject  to  suggest  un¬ 
friendly  legislation  as  regards  the  support  of  these 
State  institutions  of  learning.  I  only  suggest  that 
reason,  justice  and  common  sense  demand  that,  as 
State  institutions  they  should  be  so  organized  as  that 
instruction  shall  come  out  from  them  for  the  benefit 
of  the  whole  State.  The  terms,  agricultural  science, 
domestic  science,  applied  science,  domestic  and  po¬ 
litical  economy.science  as  related  to  agricultural  and 
the  mechanic  arts, industrial  science,  technical  science 
etc.,  have  now  become  well  nigh  stereotyped  in  ed¬ 
ucational  nomenclature.  Can  not  these  people, con¬ 
nected  with  these  State  institutions  of  learning.come 
out  once  in  a  while  among  the  people  in  all  parts  of 
the  State  and  explain  the  meaning  of  these  terms, 
and  put  those  of  us  who  have  banded  ourselves  to¬ 
gether  in  such  educational  organizations  as  the 
grange,  upon  the  track  at  least  of  studyiug  some¬ 
thing  of  interest  and  of  use  embraced  within  the  sub¬ 
jects  which  these  terms  designate? 

Some  scheme  should  be,  and  eventually  must  be 
devised  by  which  all  these  institutions  shall  become 


in  some  sense,  not  only  normal  schools,  but  schools 
for  the  diffusion  of  educational  benefits  among  all 
the  people. 

COUNTY  SUPERINTENDENCY. 

This  office  has  been  dwarfed  in  importance  and 
usefulness,  by  recent  unfortunate  legislation,  cutting 
down  the  duties  and  compensation  of  superintend¬ 
ents.  So  sadly  are  the  important  duties  of  the  office 
of  county  superintendent  neglected,  in  many  in¬ 
stances,  under  the  existing  management  that  a  re¬ 
vision  of  the  law  on  the  subject  is  imperatively  de¬ 
manded.  The  State  should  take  it  in  hand  to  bring 
such  influences  and  such  incentives  to  bear,  as  to 
wholly  reform  the  work  of  the  county  superinten¬ 
dency,  and  make  the  office,  as  it  should  be,  one  of 
the  most  effective  of  the  agencies  for  the  improvement 
of  the  schools  of  the  people. 

EXPENSES  INVOLVED. 

The  measures  of  legislative  action  suggested  would 
involve  expenses : 

The  expenses  of  premiums  for  the  establishment 
and  maintenance  of  country  high  schools. 

The  expense  of  payment  of  instructors  in  teachers’ 
normal  institutes. 

And  the  payment  of  better  wages  to  county  su¬ 
perintendents. 

But  look  at  what  the  State  does  now  expend  for 
education,  and  see  if,  out  of  this  expenditure,  or  by 
adding  a  little  to  it,  sufficient  should  not  be  used  to¬ 
wards  making  the  school  work  doubly  effective. 

The  amount  of  State  school  money  disbursed  from 
the  State  Treasury  to  the  school  districts  of  the  State 
last  year,  1875,  was  $264,683.30.  Of  this  sum,  $10 7,- 
556.18,  came  from  taxes,  the  one  mill  tax  annually 
levied  by  the  State,  The  balance  came  from  your 
school  land  fund,  from  estates  of  deceased  persons 
dying  without  will  or  heir,  and  from  insurance  com¬ 
panies  ;  chiefly  from  the  school  land  fund. 

Now  this  107.000  dollars  of  State  school  taxes,  is 
but  a  small  part  of  the  school  taxes  paid  by  the  peo¬ 
ple;  The  great  bulk  of  school  taxes  are  local  dis¬ 
trict  taxes.  The  State  levy  is  one  mill.  Your  dis¬ 
trict  levies  average  12  mills.  The  State  raises  by  tax 
and  disburses  for  you  $107,000.  You  raise  and  ex¬ 
pend  in  your  districts  $1,128,000. 

The  one  mill  tax,  is  but  a  dollar  a  year  paid  on  a 
thousand  dollars  of  property.  If  $25,000  were  ex¬ 
pended  by  the  State  for  the  additional  purposes  I 
have  mentioned,  it  would  add  but  25  cents  on  a 
thousand  dollars  to  your  taxation,  or  diminish  your 
receipts  from  the  State  for  present  school  district 
purposes  in  that  proportion.  It  would  be  no  appre¬ 
ciable  amount  whether  added  to  or  taken  out  of  ex¬ 
isting  funds  from  State  taxation. 

It  is  a  plain  proposition,  which  only  needs  to  be 
examined  to  be  understood,  that  a  sufficient  amount 
of  State  school  money  can  be  used  in  such  ways  as  I 
have  pointed  out  to  bring  about  a  thorough  educa¬ 
tion  of  our  teachers,  a  higher  class  of  common  schools 
and  a  thorough  supervision  of  school  work  ;  with 
such  results  as  will  give  to  the  agricultural  classes  a 
two-fold  benefit  from  the  entire  State  school  money 
expended. 

Now  when  I  tell  you  that  out  of  your  taxation  in 
the  year  1875,  You  paid  for  the  support  and  equip- 


22 


age  of  your  five  State  institutions  of  learning, the  sum 
of  $56,415,  an  expenditure  which  distributed  its  ben¬ 
efits  in  a  very  unequal  and  partial  manner  to  the 
people  of  the  State,  have  you  not  a  right,  you  who 
represent  nine-tenths  of  the  population,  have  you  not 
a  right  to  demand  that  a  like  sum  shall  be  expended 
in  an  equal  and  just  manner  for  the  benefit  ol  your 
entire  class. 

These  views  as  to  needed  school  legislation  in  the 
State,  in  the  interest  of  country  schools  are  not 
crude  and  indigested  views.  They  are  such  as  come 
from  the  best  educators  and  thinkers  in  the  land. 
They  are  such  as  are  going  into  the  legislation  and 
school  work  in  other  States.  They  are  such  as,  in  a 
considerable  measure  come  from  well  tried  expe¬ 
rience. 

EDUCATION  IN  THE  GRANGE. 

Now  one  word  as  to  the  work  we  can  do  in  our 
local  granges,  in  the  promotion  of  adult  education  ; 
and  auxiliary  to  the  education  of  our  children  in  the 
common  schools.  I  refer  to  systematic  educational 
work  in  the  grange,  in  the  nature  of  grange  schools, 
embracing  methodical  courses  of  instruction;  courses 
of  reading  and  instruction  which  shall  engage  the 
attention  and  bring  into  active  study  the  younger 
members  of  the  grange ;  and  the  more  studious  of 
older  years  ;  all  those  who  shall  have  the  ambition 
and  desire  to  make  themselves  masters  of  practical 
agriculture;  and  in  some  measure  at  least  of  scientific 
agriculture.  The  farmer’s  winter  days  and  winter 
evenings  afford  opportunity  for  reading  and  mental 
labor.  If  prompted  and  stimulated  to  pursue  meth¬ 
odical  studies  by  the  aid  of  lectures,  the  guidance  of 
instructors,  and  the  intercourse  of  companionship, 
study  would  find  attractions  and  helps  which  would 
dispel  monotony,  and  cause  such  work  to  go  on  with 
zest  and  enjoyment. 

Agricultural  education  has  received  great  acceler¬ 
ation  during  the  past  few  years,  and  in  some  meas¬ 
ure,  has  been  brought  into  simple  method.  Schools 
for  the  education  of  farmers’s  sons  and  daughters  in 
their  business  of  life  have  been  established  in  almost 
every  country,  and  in  almost  every  State  in  this 
Union.  The  practical  sciences  are,  in  these  schools, 
receiving  such  adjustment  and  arrangement  as  is  in¬ 
tended  to  adapt  their  study  to  the  wants  and  the 
comprehension  of  the  farmer.  Our  own  State  has 
one  such  school,  endowed  by  the  nation,  for  the 
benefit  of  the  farmers  of  the  whole  State.  But  its 


direct  advantages  have  not  as  yet  been  reached  by 
the  adult  farmers,  and  are  in  fact  within  the  reach  of 
but  few  of  the  children  of  the  n.any  thousand  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  order  of  Patrons  of  Husbandry  within 
the  State.  The  Patrons  of  Husbandry  in  Kansas 
should  consider  the  State  Agricultural  College  their 
institution  ;  and  they  should  see  that,  in  some  meas¬ 
ure,  it  be  made  to  enure  to  the  advantage  of  all,  and 
not  be  left  to  benefit  the  one  in  a  thousand  of  their 
sons  and  daughters  who  may  be  enabled  to  become 
pupils  within  its  walls.  The  Patrons  should  inquire 
what  there  is  of  science  and  practical  truth  which 
has  been  eliminated  for  their  advantage  at  the  Agri¬ 
cultural  College  and  State  University, and  they  should 
bring  it  into  the  grange  and  study  and  appropriate  it. 

We,  in  America,  have  been  too  busy  in  material 
enterprise  to  study  plans  of  education.  Never,  till 
the  organization  of  the  Grange,  was  there  an  institu¬ 
tion  established  in  this  country  having  for  its  object 
the  promotion  of  the  welfare  of  a  majority  of  the 
people,  and  having  as  one  of  its  leading  aims  the  ed¬ 
ucation  of  the  people  whom  it  is  intended  to  benefit. 
Ours  is  the  first  voluntary  organization  of  a  great 
mass  of  the  people  of  this  country  in  a  grand  educa¬ 
tional  movement. 

In  Germany  there  are,  at  the  present  time,  more 
than  150  agricultural  colleges.  Besides,  there  are  a 
great  many  schools  of  a  lower  order  where  instruc¬ 
tion  is  given  in  special  branches  of  learning  of  a 
practical  character,  for  the  education  of  farmers’ 
sons  in  scientific  agriculture,  in  its  practical  applica¬ 
tion  to  the  farmers  work.  In  addition  to  this,  a 
large  number  of  the  graduates  of  the  higher  agricul¬ 
tural  colleges  are  specially  commissioned  as  traveling 
lecturers,  paid  by  the  government  to  instruct  farm¬ 
ers’  classes  in  the  more  remote  districts  ;  to  instruct 
adult  farmers  and  young  persons  unable  to  attend 
the  agricultural  schools.  In  Austria,  Switzerland 
and  Italy  a  like  system  is  in  full  operation.  And  all 
this  supported  by  the  government.  King  craft  looks 
after  the  education  of  the  bone  and  muscle  of  the 
empire.  It  is  not  in  the  nature  of  things  that  the 
farmers  of  America,  having  taken  their  destinies  into 
their  own  hands,  and  having  the  power  to  mould  the 
machinery  of  education  into  right  working  capacity, 
will  not  in  brief  time  so  shape  it  as  that  it  shall  ac¬ 
complish  as  much  for  the  right  instruction  of  the 
agricultural  class  as  is  done  for  their  subjects  by  the 
monarchical  powers  of  Europe. 


INDEX 


PAGE. 

Albee  Pres  ,  G.  S.  Wis.  State  Normal  School.. 13,  15 


Am.  Ed.  Journal,  Editor  of .  .  5 

Apology  for  Teachers .  6 

Arithmetic .  . 3,  5,  6,  7,  8,  13 

Atlantic  Monthly  Magazine. . .  .  4 

Bateman,  State  Supt.,  Newton . 4,  7,  14,  15 

Book-keeping  .  3 

Burt,  State  Supt  ,  D . 4 

California  State  Grange  .  15 

Campbell,  Prof.  M.  M . 8,  12,16 

Carr  State  Supt. ,  Ezi’a  S .  15 

Cincinnati  Schools,  Grammar  in  .  10 

Country  High  Schools  . 18 

County  Normal  Institutes .  20 

.  County  Superim  endency .  21 

Defects  in  education il  methods,  general .  3 

Defects,  specific .  6 

De Wolf,  Supt.,  D.  F .  10 

Drawing . .  3 

Eaton,  John,  U.  S.  Com’r.  of  Education . 3,  1.1 

Edgerly,  Supt .  10 

Education  in  the  Grange .  . .  22 

Educational  Inquiries .  3 

Expenses  from  needed  legislation .  21 

Farmers,  educational  deficiencies  of .  1 

Farmers’ Girls,  education  of  .  1 

Fraser,  State  Supt.,  John . 5,  17 

Gardenei’s  Monthly,  Editor  of .  5 

Geography . : .  3,8 

Grammar . 3,  8,  10 

Granges,  Subordinate,  education  in .  22 

Harvey,  State  Supt.,  Thos.  W . .  15 

High  Schools,  country .  18 

Hudson,  Master  M.  E .  5 

Huxley,  Secretary,  H.E .  7 

Illinois,  State  Supt.  of . . 4,  7,  14,  15 

Improvements  suggested . 13,  14,  17 

Institutes,  County  Normal  .  20 

Inquiries,  Educational .  3 

Iowa,  State  Supt.  of . 7,  11,  16,  20 

Iowa,  Normal  Institutes  in .  20 

Jameson,  Z.  E.,  Chairman  Ed.  Com.  Vt.  State 

Grange .  3 


PAGE  . 

Jarvis,  Dr.  Edward .  .  H 

Kansas  State  Grange,  educational  action  taken  by  2 

Kansas,  State  Supt.  of . 5,  17 

Kedzie,  Prof.  Wm.  K . 6,  17 

Knox,  Prof  M.  V.  B . .  5 

Marvin,  Dr.  James,  Chancellor  Kansas  State 

University .  . 8,  17 

Mass.  Board  of  Education,  testimony  of. .  3 

McCarty,  Supt.  H.  D  . 5,  12 

McKenzie,  State  Supt.  J.  M...> . . 4,  11 

Meehan,  Thos . 5 

Merwin,  Prof.  J.  B .  5 

Monroe,  Mrs.  II.  E.  .  12 

Montieth,  John ,  State  Supt .  .  10 

Mudge^Prof.  B.  F  .  12 

National  Ed  Association,  Pres,  of . 5,  11,  16 

National  Grange,  educational  declarations  of  . .  1 

Natural  Sciences . 3,  14 

Nebraska,  State  Supt.  of . 4,  11 

New  England,  education  in .  3 

New  Studies  .  14 

Newell,  Prof.  M.  A .  10 

Normal  Institutes ,  County. . .  20 

Normal  Schools .  21 

Penmanship .  3 

Phelps,  Pres.  Wm.  F . 5,  11,  16 

Post,  Secretary  C.  C . 8,  13 

Recapitulation .  13 

Recommendations . 13.  17 

Sill,  Supt.  J.  M.  B .  4 

Snow,  Prof.  F.  H . 6,  17 

Sprague,  G.,  Editor  Western  Farm  Journal _ 5,  13 

State  Agricultural  College .  21 

State  University .  21 

State  Grange  of  California .  15 

Stout,  Mrs.  Olive  E . 5,  11 

Taylor,  Master  G.  W .  16 

U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Education . . 3.  11 

Van  Coelnn,  State  Supt.  C.  W . 7,  11,  16,  20 

Vermont  State  Grange  Ed.  Committee .  . .  4 

Western  Farm  Journal,  editor  of . 5,  13 

Wood,  Stephen  M .  20 

Wright,  Prof.  A.  O .  :  16 


Kansas  Farmer  Printing  House. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBAN  A 


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